In this episode, Ramon Pacheco Pardo invites Jung H. Pak to discuss her upcoming book “Becoming Kim Jong Un” and her insights on developments in North Korea which she gained as a CIA analyst and North Korea watcher since 2009. She talks about North Korean history, culture and politics, and explains differences between the three Kim leaders’ leadership style and, more generally, how a leader’s preferences and personality do shape foreign policy decisions. On the resumption of US-North Korea denuclearisation talks, she sees an urgency on the North Korean side to achieve some kind of deal, even if less ambitious than hoped, before the end of 2019. The Trump-Kim summitry has been highly personalised and, in face of upcoming US elections, there is no telling whether the process will be able to outlive Trump.
Featuring: Jung H. Pak (SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies at Brookings Institution), Ramon Pacheco Pardo (KF-VUB Korea Chair at Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
Running time: 21 minutes
