Ashish Kumar Sen

US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun said at the Atlantic Council in Washington on June 19 that “the door is wide open” for negotiations with North Korea, while admitting that US-North Korean diplomacy has been in a “holding pattern” since the summit between US President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi in February.

US President Donald J. Trump on August 24 abruptly cancelled Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s planned trip to North Korea. Explaining his decision in a tweet, Trump wrote : “because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” Days later, on August 28, Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said it appeared the North Koreans were having second thoughts about denuclearization .

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has prioritized mending ties with North Korea. His high-stakes diplomacy is playing out on the sidelines of a US effort to get Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons. Moon’s effort has been marked by a historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a rare, albeit brief, reunion of families divided by the war six decades ago. There are, however, limits to how far Moon can proceed absent progress in US-North Korean diplomacy.

The Korean Summit: Cautious Optimism  The leaders of North and South Korea agreed on April 27 to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and work to formally end the Korean War this year. Making history, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walked across into South Korea where he was greeted by a beaming South Korean President Moon Jae-in. This was the first time that a North Korea leader has set foot in South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Kim then asked Moon to step back with him into North Korea; Moon obliged, eliciting applause from onlookers.

The Koreas: Charting a Path to Peace   The big question following the historic summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27 is what denuclearization means in the context of the summit declaration, according to the Atlantic Council’s Alexander “Sandy” Vershbow.  

Six Things You Should Know as the Koreas Prepare to Make History Given the frenetic pace of the news cycle these days it would be easy to have missed the fact that the leaders of North and South Korea are poised to make a little bit of history of their own—and, perhaps, bring peace to two countries that have technically been at war with each other for the past sixty-eight years.

I Spy A North Korean at the Olympics North Korean Gen. Kim Yong-chol is believed to have orchestrated a deadly attack on a South Korean warship, the bombardment of a South Korean island, and, possibly, the cyberattack on Sony Pictures. Now, the former North Korean spy chief is on a different mission. Kim Yong-chol will lead his country’s delegation to the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang on February 25. There he is expected to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in to pave the way for a peace summit proposed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The diplomatic thaw between North and South Korea follows several months of missile and nuclear tests by Pyongyang and is playing out in the high-wattage arena afforded by the Winter Olympics.

When Politics Becomes an Olympic Sport No matter how deft the backflips or how swift the skaters, Korean unity will likely grab the spotlight (and news headlines) at the 2018 Winter Olympics which open in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on February 9.

When Politics Becomes an Olympic Sport No matter how deft the backflips or how swift the skaters, Korean unity will likely grab the spotlight (and news headlines) at the 2018 Winter Olympics which open in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on February 9.   Lien Te-An of Taiwan, a luger, trains at the Olympic Sliding Center in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on February 7. The Winter Olympics will get underway on February 9. (Reuters/Edgar Su)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is likely trying to drive a wedge between the United States and South Korea with his uncharacteristic offer of an olive branch to Seoul, according to the Atlantic Council’s Robert A. Manning.

S. Korean leader calls for global unity on N. Korea South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Wednesday that her nation will respond “decisively” to North Korean provocations, and called for a unified international response to threats from Pyongyang.

North Korean regime says rockets on ‘highest alert’ North Korea said Tuesday that it had put its rocket and long-range artillery units on “highest alert,” ready to strike South Korea and U.S. military bases in Hawaii and Guam .

N. Korea ends cease-fire during U.S.-S. Korea military exercises North Korea on Monday scrapped the cease-fire that ended the Korean War in 1953, as the U.S. and South Korea conducted military exercises in the region.

North Korea tests new leader of South; Park Geun-hye ‘no softie’ to belligerence The Korean Peninsula is fraught with tension as its new leaders engage in a battle of words and will — with the North on Monday voiding the cease-fire that halted the Korean War in 1953 and the South placing its troops on high alert.

U.N. hits North Korea with new sanctions The U.N. Security Council on Thursday unanimously approved new sanctions on North Korea to punish it for its Feb. 12 nuclear test, hours after Pyongyang threatened a “pre-emptive” nuclear strike against the United States.

North Korea cuts off hotline, pact with South; Kim responds to U.N. resolution North Korea on Friday scrapped all nonaggression pacts with South Korea and cut off a hotline with Seoul after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions on Pyongyang to punish it for its Feb. 12 nuclear test.

Disputes in Asia pose challenge to Obama Japan ’s territorial disputes with South Korea , a belligerent North Korea and an increasingly assertive China are posing challenges to the Obama administration as it seeks to deepen its engagement with Asia, analysts say. But a new crop of leaders in Japan and South Korea , and in China next month, presents an opportunity for the Asian neighbors to dial down the rhetoric, they add.

North Korea threat triggers global backlash North Korea on Tuesday threatened to destroy South Korea and hinted at “stronger steps” after its third nuclear test last week, prompting a stern response from the Obama administration and European nations.

North Korea threatens Seoul over sanctions North Korea threatened to take “strong physical countermeasures” Friday if South Korea takes part in enforcing United Nations sanctions, which it called a “declaration of war.”

Park breaks through ‘glass ceiling’ to win presidency of South Korea South Koreans on Wednesday elected their first female president — Park Geun-hye , leader of the conservative New Frontier Party — in a close election with results that are likely to please U.S. officials, analysts said.