The view of North Korea from Trump’s Washington

Donald Trump’s return to the White House has dramatically reshaped Washington in just two short months, including the world of North Korea policy. But while many in the U.S. expect that Trump will return to the unfinished business of diplomacy with Kim Jong Un, few in the Beltway are willing to speak openly about the new administration’s policies or how the U.S. should approach the DPRK — apparently fearful of drawing Trump’s wrath. That’s the conclusion that several members of the NK News team drew after visiting the U.S. last week, where they had dozens of discussions with interlocutors across the U.S. government, nonprofit sector, think tanks and more.  This week, three NK News journalists join the podcast to discuss their trip to New York and Washington and the unprecedented turbulence affecting the North Korea watcher community. They talk about how the administration still appears to be in “listening mode” on DPRK issues, why Pyongyang isn’t at the top of Trump’s priorities right now and what would need to happen for that to change. They also explore what their interlocutors in the U.S. wanted to know about the ongoing political chaos in South Korea, and explain why few are impressed with the current state of the U.S.-ROK alliance.  This week’s podcast features the following members of the NK News team: CEO Chad O’Carroll Lead Correspondent Shreyas Reddy Correspondent and Korea Pro Editorial Director Jeongmin Kim About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists. NK News subscribers can listen to this and other exclusive episodes from their preferred podcast player by accessing the private podcast feed. For more detailed instructions, please see the step-by-step guide at nknews.org/private-feed.