And to tell us more about this,... Professor Song Se-ryun from Kyung Hee University joins us in the studio today.
Hello professor.

Great to be here.


1- Ahead of the inter-Korean summit next week... South Korea and the U.S. seem to be stepping up bilateral cooperation to hold successful summits with North Korea.
In fact, South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong met with his American counterpart John Bolton for the first time over in the U.S. How important is this kind of cooperation right now?


2- Just last week, Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono visited Korea to meet with President Moon Jae-in, and this week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to meet with President Trump.
So what is Japan hoping to achieve by emphasizing the importance of a U.S.-South Korea-Japan alliance?


3- China and North Korea, meanwhile, seem to be taking their relationship to a whole new level ahead of North Korea's summits with South Korea and the U.S.
Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with top Chinese diplomat Song Tao, who visited Pyongyang with a Chinese art troupe... and some are forecasting that Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit Pyongyang as early as June.
What can we make of China-North Korea relations at this point?


4- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also visited Japan to meet with his Japanese counterpart one-on-one... with Tokyo stepping up efforts to avoid the so-called 'Japan passing' amid ongoing global diplomacy over North Korea.
What came out of their meeting? And is China increasingly becoming the mediator in all this?


5- Speculation is also growing over the possibility of North Korea requesting a summit with Russia before the Trump-Kim summit sometime in May or early June.
What are the chances of us seeing this happening?


6- What is North Korea hoping to achieve as it actively reaches out to its allies?


7- So the issue of denuclearization is the key issue... because the different countries involved have different understandings of "denuclearization".
Tell us more about this.


8- With the U.S., South Korea and Japan stepping up trilateral cooperation.... and North Korea reaching out to China and Russia for support ahead of the inter-Korean summit as well as the Trump-Kim summit... how helpful do you think such relationships and alliances will be in reaching an effective outcome from the summits?


9- What role should South Korea play at this point and also going forward?
What strategies should Seoul have in place in order to successfully bring peace and stability back to the Korean Peninsula?

Thank you for your insight today.

My pleasure.