From Maximum Pressure to Maximum Summitry and Back Again? The EU and North Korea

• In Event: Poster Session: European Politics and Society & Presidents and Executive Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: European Politics and Society

Abstract

Since the PyeongChang Olympic Games in 2018, hopes have risen for a peaceful solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula. Three inter-Korean summits between ROK President Moon and DPRK leader Kim have taken place as well as the Singapore Summit and a “Mini-Summit” at the DMZ between him and US President Trump. Yet the North Korea diplomacy has been stalled since the breakdown of the US-DPRK summit in Hanoi. If the cycle reverts back to the “maximum pressure”, such situation would affect not only the two Koreas, but also those who have less direct stakes, including the EU.

The paper argues that although a bilateral agreement between the US and DPRK is the key solution, in order to secure the lasting nature of such a deal, multilateralization is needed. Therefore, the EU should be invited as one of the multinational stakeholders. The paper examines the new ways in which the EU (and its Member States) can help reach denuclearization on the Korean peninsula. Drawing on series of semi-structured interviews in Seoul, Beijing, Berlin, the US and Brussels, the paper is empirically-based, cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary, bringing a new dimension in the studies of multilateralism and combining EU and Asia studies.

Author

• Tereza Novotna, Free University Berlin