Human rights, nuclear security and the question of engagement with North Korea

What a difference a year makes. Throughout 2017 –Trump’s first year in office –we witnessed rising tensions between North Korea and the United States. North Korea continued to test ballistic missiles throughout the year, and conducted its largest nuclear test to date. The year progressed with a fiery exchange between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump promised to rain ‘fire and fury’ down on North Korea, deriding Kim as ‘rocket man’. In turn, Kim warned that Trump would ‘face results beyond his expectation’, and that North Korea ‘will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire’. Fast forward to late 2018. Following a summit between the two leaders in June (the Singapore Summit), Trump has declared that he has ‘fallen in love’ with Kim Jong Un. A second summit is on the horizon. And coming to power behind the weight of the 2016 candlelight revolution in South Korea, President Moon Jae-in has carefully managed diplomatic relations with and between his tempestuous counterparts in Pyongyang and Washington DC.