1. Pyongyang's Foreign Relations: Amidst a Diplomatic Standstill, Will Old Friendships Fade Away?
- Author:
- Daniel Wertz
- Publication Date:
- 05-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- North Korea’s tumultuous path over the past few years from nuclear standoff to summit diplomacy put a spotlight on Pyongyang’s bilateral relations across the Indo-Pacific. The February 2017 assassination of Kim Jong Un’s exiled half-brother at the Kuala Lumpur airport dramatized the malign aspects of North Korea’s overseas presence, and presaged Southeast Asia’s role as an important front in the incipient U.S.-led maximum pressure campaign against Pyongyang. As maximum pressure transitioned to engagement with North Korea, U.S.-DPRK summits in Singapore and Vietnam raised hopes that North Korea could follow the examples of these host nations, and move forward on a more hopeful path toward economic development and reconciliation with old adversaries.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, and Sanctions
- Political Geography:
- Asia, North Korea, and Pyongyang