Talking (and Listening) to North Korea

KDIS-FUIKS Korea Europe Center: 2021 Human Security and Development Forum

„Talking (and Listening) to North Korea“ by Glyn Ford

Founder & Executive Director (POLINT), former Member of the European Parliament (UK Labour Party, 1984-2009) and Co-Founder of its Delegation for Relations with the Korean Peninsula

The event will be chaired by Dr Tereza Novotná (Freie Universität Berlin & EUROPEUM Prague).

„Over several decades, negotiations with North Korea have gone through various ups and downs. After a promising period three years ago, the talks to reach an agreement on denuclearization and a peace arrangement on the Korean peninsula have been deadlocked since the latest abortive attempt at the 2019 US-DPRK summit in Hanoi. However, such a stalemate is not new. All previous efforts to negotiate a settlement have proved unsuccessful, yet they have neither failed in the same way nor for the same reasons.

How can we explain the cycles of previous – and contemporary – high expectations followed by serious setbacks? What can we learn from the preceding experiences about what type of a deal might eventually be acceptable to all sides? What does Pyongyang want and does the Biden Administration have a good shot at achieving a deal? How can Europe help bring about a sustainable peace on the Korean peninsula?

To help find the best way forward, Glyn Ford, a long-term European politician who has ‘talked’ – and ‘listened’ – to North Korean officials during his nearly fifty visits to North Korea and numerous other encounters will join us for an online conversation.“

Please register here.

The event will be held in English.