North Korea

Whether Kim [Jong Un]’s move [to reopen inter-Korean communications] drives a wedge between the U.S. and South Korea is up to the U.S. and South Korea — not North Korea.

The fact that North Korea wants to talk to South Korea makes me cautiously optimistic, but I don’t have high expectations. We need to be careful about not blowing this out of proportion.

North Korea wants many things including economic access, so the price tag to negotiate with North Korea on anything is much higher than it ever was because of its nuclear capability now. People should not assume that because these overtures have been made that it’s going to be follow the yellow brick road, a little bit of fun and that’s that. It’s going to come with a high cost.

I'm not optimistic about the potential for U.S.-North Korea dialogue happening anytime soon. I have not seen anything from Pyongyang to suggest that the Kim regime is interested in addressing these issues even if dialogue began, and it would be politically difficult for Washington to back down from its demand for credible, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization given this current situation,

The Swedes are very good at [establishing trust and playing intermediary between North Korea and the world]. The Swedes have often played that kind of a role in diplomacy of various kinds. They are seen, in some measure, as an honest broker.