The strategic landscape of the Korean Peninsula is shifting. President Trump’s recent reduction in military exercises with Seoul and his olive branch to Pyongyang raise new questions regarding the future of the U.S.-South Korea alliance, especially as North Korea deepens its military partnership with Russia. Meanwhile, denuclearization, previously a common goal of Washington and Beijing, grows increasingly uncertain as the two countries’ priorities diverge. This conversation examines whether the United States and China still share a policy toward North Korea, how changes in Pyongyang’s foreign policy are reshaping the region, and what a transforming U.S.-South Korea alliance means for Seoul.
On August 25, 2026, Jonathan Corrado of the Korea Society spoke with Victor Cha and Susan Thornton to discuss the U.S. and China’s diverging policies toward North Korea and who will manage the next crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
