Korea Strategic Talks Webinar VIII: Re-Engagement with the DPRK & A New Playing Field

With the inauguration of U.S President Donald Trump and the Republic of Korea (ROK) President Lee Jae-myung in 2025, the question of how to re-engage the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is back on the agenda. Yet the landscape has shifted markedly since the 2018 Kim-Trump summits: Pyongyang’s strategic position has strengthened, not least through deeper economic, technological and military ties with Russia following their 2024 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. In multiple statements, DPRK leaders have framed denuclearization as non-negotiable, even as they signal potential openness to dialogue if talks accept that premise.

The third Strategic Talk for 2025 will take place on November 25 at 14.00 hrs Stockholm time and 08.00 hrs US East Coast time. Our guests for this session are Mr. Antoine Bondaz, Foundation for Strategic Research, and Mr. Andrew Yeo, Brookings Institution.

In June 2024, the ISDP Stockholm Korea Center introduced a new series of “Korea Strategic Talks,” to further promote dialogue and exchange of views related to the developments on the Korean peninsula. The overall aim of the initiative is to further increase the understanding of the many factors and policies that impact political and security developments. We invite scholars and experts from different backgrounds to a conversation moderated by Mats Engman, Distinguished Military Fellow at ISDP. By conducting two or three talks within a short time span, we believe it will enable us to identify possible differences in understanding, assessments, and policies.

The Strategic Talks are live, online, and recorded for later use. A typical session runs for 60 minutes. Occasionally, we will also summarize a Strategic Talk or a series of talks into a publication.

During this fourth series of talks, we will concentrate our discussion on the challenges and possibilities for re-engaging Pyongyang. Some of the questions that will be discussed include

• How does the DPRK’s improved geopolitical situation reshape the ground rules for U.S. and ROK engagement?
• How likely is a new Trump-Kim summit, and what conditions and timelines might shape such a meeting?
• If denuclearization is off the table for Pyongyang, what other issues could be pursued meaningfully?
• What roles might other states play in facilitating re-engagement and de-escalation?

Speakers:

Antoine Bondaz is a Research Fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) and Director of the Indo-Pacific Observatory, where he also oversees the FRS-KF Korea Program and the Taiwan Program. His work focuses on the foreign and security policies of China, Taiwan, and the two Koreas, as well as broader strategic issues in the Indo-Pacific and France’s approach to the region. He is currently seconded to the European Commission’s IDEA until 1 January 2026.

He advises multiple French government bodies—including the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Armed Forces and he has testified before the French National Assembly and Senate, the European Parliament, and Canada’s House of Commons.

In academia, Bondaz is an Associate Professor at Sciences Po Paris, teaching courses such as “China’s foreign and security policy” and “Demystifying North Korea,” and he also teaches at Paris-1 Sorbonne, the NATO Defense College, the War College, and IHEDN. He holds a PhD in political science from Sciences Po with highest honors, has received several awards (including from the Pierre Ledoux Foundation), and has authored 300+ articles and delivered 350+ talks in France and abroad.

Andrew Yeo is a senior fellow and the SK-Korea Foundation Chair at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Asia Policy Studies, and a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. His work centers on U.S. alliances in Asia, Asia’s regional architecture and institutional change, grand strategy and force posture, South Korean foreign policy, U.S.–North Korea relations, and North Korean human rights.

He is the author or editor of six books, most recently the co-edited volume Great Power Competition and Overseas Bases: Chinese, Russian, and American Force Posture in the 21st Century (Brookings Institution Press, 2024). Among his arlier titles are, State, Society, and Markets in North Korea (2021) and North Korean Human Rights: Activists and Networks (2018)ö.

Dr Yeo is developing a project on the role of narratives in the formation of grand strategy (with a focus on South Korea), publishes in leading journals, and writes for major outlets; he also provides commentary across U.S. and Asian media. He is a member of the National Committee on North Korea and a two-time Fulbright scholar. Dr Yeo earned his Ph.D. in government from Cornell University and his B.A. in psychology and international studies from Northwestern University.