Engaging North Korea

Idea

Building on her groundbreaking work in the field of “informal diplomacy,” especially with countries that have limited or no official relations with the United States, New America’s Suzanne DiMaggio initiated a Track 2 dialogue with North Korea to help identify pathways for diplomatic progress. In the absence of normal relations, this effort sought to: (1) defuse tensions between Washington and Pyongyang during a period of escalating tensions; (2) urge the Trump administration to communicate a coherent, diplomacy-oriented U.S. policy toward North Korea; and (3) generate ideas around getting productive official talks underway.

Incubation

DiMaggio convened a series of discussions that brought together North Korean and U.S. officials and experts focused on nuclear issues, regional security, and bilateral relations. The initiative drew upon a series of best practices DiMaggio developed throughout the long-standing U.S-Iran Dialogue, which she has led through the course of nearly two decades and multiple political transitions in both countries.

Impact

As part of this process, DiMaggio facilitated the first official discussions between the Trump administration and North Korean government representatives in Oslo in May 2017. These exchanges led to the release of Otto Warmbier—an American university student who had been imprisoned in North Korea since January 2016— negotiated by Joseph Yun, the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea.