Trump, Kim, and the Vietnam Summit: What Just Happened?

Daniel Russel provides a post-mortem of last week's Trump/Kim summit in a conversation with Carol Giacomo of the New York Times. (54 min., 14 sec.)

Breakfast available from 8:00 a.m.
Discussion begins at 8:30 a.m.

In his State of the Union Address, President Donald Trump promised a “historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula” when he meets North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, in Hanoi at the end of February. North Korea has demanded the U.S. begin lifting sanctions and pressure, “or else.” U.S. intelligence chiefs testified that North Korea has no intention of abandoning its nuclear weapons. So what will the second U.S.-DPRK summit produce? Nearly eight months after the two leaders agreed to “work towards complete denuclearization,” there is very little progress to show — North Korea continues to expand its nuclear arsenal, and sanctions are still in place.

Join us for a discussion just days after the planned Vietnam Summit, with Asia Society Policy Institute’s Daniel Russel and Carol Giacomo of the New York Times editorial board. Will the world see North Korea begin taking meaningful steps to end its threatening nuclear and missile programs? Or will Kim succeed in gaining some relief from sanctions and cancellation of U.S. military exercises in return for more promises?

Speakers

Daniel Russel is Vice President for International Security and Diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service at the U.S. Department of State, he most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He served at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs, where he helped formulate President Obama’s strategic rebalance to the Asia Pacific region.

Carol Giacomo (moderator) joined the New York Times editorial board in August 2007. Previously she was a diplomatic correspondent for Reuters in Washington, covering foreign policy for the international wire service for more than two decades. In her previous position, she traveled to more than 100 countries with eight secretaries of state and various other senior U.S. officials. Her reporting for the editorial board involves regular independent overseas travel, including recent trips to North Korea, Iran and Myanmar.