Kim Jong-un’s border closures appear to have blocked the spread of COVID-19 in North Korea, but they have also caused a food crisis threatening the survival of his people.
Donald Trump avoided a major crisis with North Korea. But the North Korean nuclear issue remains unresolved as the country continues to develop its nuclear and ballistic capabilities.
With signs North Korea has suffered in the coronavirus pandemic and is now facing a further threat to its shaky economy, the ratcheted up of tension with the South is ominous.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have very different objectives from their on-again, off-again negotiations. More work needs to be done to build trust and align the leaders on a basic common goal.
Every time North Korea needles the US with another provocation, it makes it harder for Donald Trump to mobilise the domestic support for a return to the negotiating table.
Research shows the news media often reproduce metaphors that frame North Korea as dangerous, provocative, irrational, secretive, impoverished and totalitarian.
The new friendship between North Korea and Cuba is puzzling. The two countries should share values as socialist republics, but their brands of socialism are worlds apart when it comes to children.
With all the drama between Trump and Kim, it’s easy to forget that the US is not the only nation involved in denuclearizing North Korea. China is hugely influential — but it’s not clear quite how.
Donald Trump is unmoved by high risks and wild odds, apparently feeling that his sheer cunning will always win, including, now, in geopolitics — his latest casino.
At this stage one can only judge the atmospherics and optics of the summit, and on that basis, Beijing and Pyongyang have plainly come out ahead, while Tokyo and Seoul seem to have been overlooked.