context: The second Trump–Kim summit will take place in Hanoi 27–28 February.
On 25 February, the Charhar Institute held a conference with the Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies (CPCS) for publication of their report 'Catching the Window of Peace Opportunities on the Korean Peninsula: New Motives and New Opportunities'.
Korean peace and stability is intertwined with global peace, opined Han Fangming 韩方明 National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Foreign Affairs Committee deputy director and Charhar Institute president. China, for its part, always supported DPRK denuclearisation, inter-Korean relations, and diplomacy, vowing to maintain its efforts.
Despite the intricacies of denuclearisation and need to ease Northeast Asian tensions, argued Yu Hongjun 于洪君 Charhar Institute chief researcher, the summit will provide a new impetus for political settlement of the DPRK nuclear crisis.
Hu Yumin 胡豫闽 China Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA) senior researcher suggested the Hanoi summit will prove more fruitful than Singapore.
Technical problems need to be solved gradually, argued Fan Jishe 樊吉社 CASS Institute of American Studies researcher and Strategy Institute director. A road map and timetable are necessary, and mutual political trust is required for DPRK–US collaboration. Fan remained positive, as the upcoming summit has more room for dialogue and consultation to achieve peaceful denuclearisation.
Denuclearisation is irreversible, argued Li Chunfu 李春福 Charhar Institute researcher and Nankai University Asian Studies Centre deputy director; political denuclearisation needs to be realised. Only when DPRK no longer needs nuclear weapons as bargaining chips will it denuclearise. Package plans have proved unfruitful, Li continued, and careful planning by all parties is thus required.
Wang Fudong 王付东 China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) Korean Peninsula Research Office assistant researcher believes there is strong political will to change and normalise within the DPRK.
After much positive engagement, diplomatic failure is not an option, argued Shen Shiwei 沈诗伟 Charhar Institute researcher; both sides will seek to get the most out of it.