Episode 35 | North Korea: Is full denuclearisation still a viable goal?

Episode 35

North Korea: Is Full Denuclearisation Still a Viable Goal?

Released on June 1, 2021


For this episode we’re taking a look at one of the world’s most intractable geopolitical issues - North Korea - as the second of our collaborations with the Centre for Security, Strategy and Diplomacy at the Brussels School of Governance.

South Korea’s president Moon Jae-in has just been in Washington for talks with President Biden, in part to discuss how to deal with the long-isolated country.

And in its first comments reacting to that meeting, Pyongyang has signalled it was not best pleased - warning that what it called the U.S.’s hostile policy against the North could lead to an “acute and unstable situation” on the Korean Peninsula.

The last few years have of course seen plenty of drama, but little resolution around the North Korean issue - Donald Trump’s historic talks with Kim Jong Un being a prime example of both phenomena.

So has there been any real progress on the Korean Peninsula? What is the best and most realistic way forward now? Is it time, for example, to give up the goal of fully denuclearising North Korea?

This week we are joined by CSDS’s Korea Chair, Ramon Pacheco Pardo, who is also an associate professor at King’s College, London. Our other distinguished guest is Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, her latest post in a stellar career following Korean issues in the worlds of intelligence, policy making and academia.

This episode is a collaboration with the CSDS, home to a rich expertise on Asia and is working to enhance understanding of Asia’s security matters in Europe and promote greater engagement between the two regions.

Ramon Pacheco Pardo (@rpachecopardo)

Ramon Pacheco Pardo is Reader (Associate Professor) in International Relations at King's College London and the KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Institute for European Studies of Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He is also King's Regional Envoy for East and South East Asia, helping to shape and implement the university's strategy for the region. He is also Committee Member at CSCAP EU. He has held visiting positions at Korea University, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Melbourne University. He has been editor of Millennium: Journal of International Studies and currently sits in the editorial boards of East Asia: An International Quarterly, EU-China Observer and Global Studies Journal. His publications include the book North Korea-US Relations from Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un, published in 2019. He has participated in track 1.5 and 2 dialogues with South Korea, North Korea, China and Japan. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Sue Mi Terry (@SueMiTerry)

Sue Mi Terry is a senior fellow for Korea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She also teaches at the Asian Studies Program at Georgetown University and is an analyst and commentator for MSNBC and NBC News programs. Prior to CSIS, she served as a senior analyst on Korean issues at the CIA from 2001 to 2008, where she produced hundreds of intelligence assessments—including a record number of contributions to the president’s Daily Brief. From 2008 to 2009, Dr. Terry was the director for Korea, Japan, and Oceanic affairs at the National Security Council under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. From 2009 to 2010, she was deputy national intelligence officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council. From 2010 to 2011, she served as the national intelligence fellow in the David Rockefeller Studies Program at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. She holds a Ph.D. (2001) and an M.A. (1998) in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a B.A. in political science from New York University (1993).