Exchanges in DC are increasingly torn between a focus on bilateral relations—in particular, US relations with China, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan—or on trilateral relations. If the Sino-US relationship has enough heft to galvanize bilateral attention, the other pairings keep becoming enmeshed in triangular analysis. This report on recent seminars and presentations in DC concentrates on the triangular frameworks that have emerged following the Hanoi Summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un—in a period when diplomacy has been relatively quiet as trade talks dragged, denuclearization saw no advance, and Moon Jae-in’s visit to Washington did little more than cover up fundamental differences in their approaches to North Korea.

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