Watch Now: The Korean Peninsula, the Incoming Biden Administration, and Advice from Four Former Chief Negotiators

Watch a Bulletin virtual program featuring Ambassadors Gallucci, Hill, Chun, and Davies moderated by Duyeon Kim. In this conversation you’ll hear about specific challenges the incoming Biden administration faces when it comes to the North Korean nuclear problem and the complex regional issues that will impact the future of diplomatic negotiations.

Read more Bulletin coverage of nuclear risk and watch to all of our virtual programs.

Ambassador Robert Gallucci is Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University who negotiated the 1994 Agreed Framework as chief U.S. envoy during the Clinton administration. He also served as Ambassador-at-Large and Special Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, focused on the non-proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction; Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs, and Deputy Executive Chairman of the UN Special Commission overseeing the disarmament of Iraq following the first Gulf War in his 20-year diplomatic career. Upon leaving public service, he served as Dean of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University for 13 years before he became president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Ambassador Christopher Hill is the George W. Ball Adjunct Professor at Columbia University who negotiated all three of the Six Party Talks agreements with North Korea from 2005 to 2009 as chief U.S. envoy the Bush administration. He previously served as Ambassador to Iraq; Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs; Ambassador to South Korea; Ambassador to Poland; Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia; and Special envoy to Kosovo. He also served as a Special Assistant to the president and a Senior Director on the staff of the National Security Council in his 33-year diplomatic career. Upon leaving public service, he was Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver and Chief Global Advisor and Professor of the Practice in Diplomacy at the university.

Ambassador Chun Yung-woo is Founder and Chairman of the Korean Peninsula Future Forum who negotiated two of the three Six Party Talks agreements as chief South Korean envoy from 2006 to 2008 during the Roh administration. He also served as the National Security Advisor to President Lee Myung-bak; Second Vice Foreign Minister; Deputy Foreign Minister for Policy Planning and International Organizations; and Chairman of the Thirteenth Plenary Meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group; and member of the UN Missile Panel. His senior overseas assignments included Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ambassador/Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New York in his 36-year diplomatic career.

Ambassador Glyn Davies negotiated the 2012 Leap Day deal with North Korea as chief U.S. envoy during the Obama administration. He was nominated and confirmed by the Senate three times for ambassadorial assignments as Political Director for the 2003-04 US Presidency of the G8; Permanent Representative to United Nations Agencies, Vienna; and Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand. He also served as Deputy Chief of Mission in London during 9/11; Executive Secretary of the National Security Council; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Acting Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs; and Director of the State Department Operations Center in his 38-year diplomatic career.

Duyeon Kim is a columnist at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security where she authored CNAS Report “Negotiating Toward a Denuclearization-Peace Roadmap on the Korean Peninsula.” She specializes in both functional and regional issues: nuclear nonproliferation, the two Koreas, East Asian relations, and security. She has written in leading publications including Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy. Kim is a frequent commentator in global media. In her first career, she served as the Foreign Ministry Correspondent and Unification Ministry Correspondent for South Korea’s Arirang TV News as part of the exclusive South Korean press corps covering the Six Party Talks, North Korea, South Korean politics and foreign policy, inter-Korean relations, Northeast Asian relations, and U.S. foreign policy.