Read a summary of this teleconference here.

A teleconference on what to expect from the upcoming diplomatic meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

President Trump surprised observers when he accepted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s invitation to meet in person. Set to take place in May, the two parties have not yet decided on a date or location to hold the summit. The assumed topic of discussion will be nuclear weapons and a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, but it is unclear whether the two parties agree on what ‘denuclearization’ means in this context. South Korea and China announced that North Korea would be willing to negotiate with the United States on ending its nuclear weapons program. The proposed meeting between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is unprecedented. Pyongyang has been working to hold direct talks with a sitting U.S. president for quite some time, believing that meeting with the U.S. head of state would finally provide the North Korean regime international legitimacy. Critics contend that Trump is not ready for such a meeting.

What should be expected from this unprecedented meeting between the leaders of the United States and North Korea?

Listen to the full conversation below:

Featuring:

The Honorable Stanley Roth, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, State Department (1997-2001)

Before assuming his duties as Assistant Secretary of State, Stanley Roth served as Director of Research & Studies at the U.S. Institute of Peace from January 1996. Read more.

Contributing Moderator:

Ms. Jean H. Lee, Director, Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy; and Global Fellow, North Korea Documentation Project, Asia Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Jean Lee is a veteran foreign correspondent and expert on North Korea. Lee led the Associated Press news agency’s coverage of the Korean Peninsula as bureau chief from 2008 to 2013. Read more.