Thomas Gaulkin | June 11, 2018

University of Chicago history professor Bruce Cumings has made a career of overcoming the conventional wisdom on North Korea. He's visited the country several times, and observed its ups and downs under the leadership of the whole Kim dynasty.

Ahead of the momentous June 12 meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, Cumings reflects on North Korea's recent history, where past negotiations went wrong, and says the isolated nation wants the same thing it always has: a new relationship with the United States.