Both U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have made achieving denuclearization and establishing a “peace regime” on the peninsula their key foreign policy goals. 
Not everyone is convinced, however: David Straub, a 30-year U.S. State Department veteran and expert on East Asian politics and security, has been a critical voice of Moon and the South Korean left, as well as the Trump administration’s North Korea strategy.
In this week’s episode, Straub joins the podcast to discuss U.S. foreign policy in the Trump era, what South Korea’s progressive camp gets wrong about North Korea, and how to effectively negotiate with Pyongyang.
Note to listeners: this interview was conducted in September, before the resignation of John Bolton.
David Straub is a researcher, author, and commentator on Korean peninsula affairs and U.S.-Korea relations. He was a foreign service officer from 1976 to 2006, with his career in the State Department centering on Japan and Korea.
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About the podcast: The “North Korea News Podcast” is a weekly podcast hosted exclusively by NK News, covering all things DPRK: from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field and insight from our very own journalists.
Featured image: Blue House