Najam Cautiously Optimistic about Korean Summit Diplomacy
Adil Najam, Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, believes that summit diplomacy between the leaders of North and South Korea is a major step forward, but that the path to peace on the Korean peninsula remains a long and hard road ahead.
Asked to be a live commentator on GeoTV (Uru/Pakistan) the summit meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the military demarcation line between the two countries on April 27, 2018, Najam called the meeting ‘historic’ but cautioned that no one should expect immediate or conclusive breakthroughs immediately.
Najam said that “if the two leaders are still smiling, shaking hands warmly, and beaming at the end of the meeting, then we should call it a success. Expecting breakthroughs and reversals in just one meeting is unrealistic and also unfair.” He said that the most important substantive conclusion of the meeting would be the agenda-setting for the North Korean leaders forthcoming meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
In response to a question, Najam argued that while external forces, including by the U.S> and certainly by China, were central to this meeting happening, the bulk of the credit has to go to the two Koreas themselves:
“The North Korean leader, in particular, has established himself as a saavy diplomatic player – and certainly not the bufoon he is sometimes described as. However, let us not forget and let us give credit to the maturity and finese shown by the South Korean leadership. In many ways, it is Kim Jong Un who called the meeting, and the shots; but it could not have happened without Moon Jae-in.”
Najam said that this has been a Korean-led summit, enabled by the international community. The demonstrated intent of the two Korean leaders, he said, given reason for cautious hope.
Adil Najam is the inaugural dean of the Pardee School for Global Studies at Boston University and was former Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences. His research and teaching is on global policy and diplomacy, including on international negotiations.