Center for East Asia Policy Studies
Jung H. Pak
SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies
Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies
Jonathan Stromseth
Lee Kuan Yew Chair in Southeast Asian Studies
Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, John L. Thornton China Center
Ryan Hass
David M. Rubenstein Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, John L. Thornton China Center
[John Bolton’s statement that the North Koreans “have not lived up to the commitments” made in Singapore] totally cuts Secretary of State Pompeo and the special representative, Steve Biegun, at the knees. What is the incentive for North Korea to actually talk about the meat-and-potatoes of denuclearization with the special representative and with the secretary of state if the national security adviser has said nothing is happening so we have to go straight to the top?
It is becoming increasingly difficult for both sides [China and the United States] to reconcile their competing perspectives. Both countries are becoming entrenched in their narratives and having increasing difficulty finding common ground.