Issue Talk: South Korean delegation heads North to engage in basketball diplomacy
- 6 years ago
남북 통일농구 대표단 방북, 남북 고위급 접촉 주목 - 신상협 교수 대담
Joining us today we have with us Professor Shin Sang-hyup from Kyunghee University to help us understand the significance of these basketball games, as well as some other developments of the day. Professor Shin, welcome back to the show.
My pleasure.
1 - A large delegation from South Korea has left for Pyongyang to take part in a series of inter-Korean basketball games over the next few days. Can you tell us about the significance of this event?
2 - Of course it's not just a basketball game. You can see that most notably when you look at the fact that South Korea's unification minister is also part of the delegation. What do you think his role will be during this trip?
3 - Kim Jong-un is famously a great fan of basketball. Do you think he will make an appearance?
4 - It has now also been revealed that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be going to Pyongyang on Thursday. It seems hashing out the details of the denuclearization process will be the main agenda. But the question is, how much can we expect North Korea to give up at this point?
5 - U.S. intelligence officials have been telling the media about their skepticism towards North Korea cooperating. CNN are citing defense department officials that say Kim Jong-un has no intention to denuclearize, the New York Times is quoting officials about the amount of weapons-grade uranium that has been produced... It seems to be a coordinated, concerted effort by the administration to put pressure on the regime before the talks. Is that how you see it as well?
6 - There is already talk that a second Kim-Trump summit could take place in September, this time in New York, coinciding with the UN General Assembly meeting. Do you think that could happen?
7 - A North Korean senior official in charge of economic affairs, Ku Bon-tae, has travelled to China to discuss economic cooperation. It's quite a turnaround in their relationship when just months ago China was imposing its strongest ever sanctions on North Korea. Are there concerns that their economic relationship is growing too fast, when international sanctions are still imposed on the regime?
8 - But on one hand there are reports that Beijing cancelled plans to allow North Korean airliner Air Koryo to start flights between Pyongyang and Chengdu late last month. Do you think Washington had put pressure on them to do so?
Thank you for your time.
Joining us today we have with us Professor Shin Sang-hyup from Kyunghee University to help us understand the significance of these basketball games, as well as some other developments of the day. Professor Shin, welcome back to the show.
My pleasure.
1 - A large delegation from South Korea has left for Pyongyang to take part in a series of inter-Korean basketball games over the next few days. Can you tell us about the significance of this event?
2 - Of course it's not just a basketball game. You can see that most notably when you look at the fact that South Korea's unification minister is also part of the delegation. What do you think his role will be during this trip?
3 - Kim Jong-un is famously a great fan of basketball. Do you think he will make an appearance?
4 - It has now also been revealed that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be going to Pyongyang on Thursday. It seems hashing out the details of the denuclearization process will be the main agenda. But the question is, how much can we expect North Korea to give up at this point?
5 - U.S. intelligence officials have been telling the media about their skepticism towards North Korea cooperating. CNN are citing defense department officials that say Kim Jong-un has no intention to denuclearize, the New York Times is quoting officials about the amount of weapons-grade uranium that has been produced... It seems to be a coordinated, concerted effort by the administration to put pressure on the regime before the talks. Is that how you see it as well?
6 - There is already talk that a second Kim-Trump summit could take place in September, this time in New York, coinciding with the UN General Assembly meeting. Do you think that could happen?
7 - A North Korean senior official in charge of economic affairs, Ku Bon-tae, has travelled to China to discuss economic cooperation. It's quite a turnaround in their relationship when just months ago China was imposing its strongest ever sanctions on North Korea. Are there concerns that their economic relationship is growing too fast, when international sanctions are still imposed on the regime?
8 - But on one hand there are reports that Beijing cancelled plans to allow North Korean airliner Air Koryo to start flights between Pyongyang and Chengdu late last month. Do you think Washington had put pressure on them to do so?
Thank you for your time.