What does 2019 hold for Kim Jong-un and North Korea?
Kim Jong-un goes into 2019 with momentum to build on after last year’s historic meeting with President Donald Trump. As Kim attempts to negotiate a fresh summit, the Guardian’s Tania Branigan looks at his leadership so far and Emma Graham-Harrison describes a rare trip to Pyongyan. Plus: Catherine Shoard on the annual film awards season
Donald Trump has revealed that negotiations are underway to secure a location for a new summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, after the historic meeting between the two men in Singapore last year.
It came after Kim warned in a New Year’s speech that Pyongyang may change its approach to nuclear talks if Washington persisted with sanctions.
The Guardian’s leader writer Tania Branigan has been reporting on North Korea for many years but says that very little is known about Kim Jong-un as he faces what could be a critical year in his leadership. One false move or a misunderstanding in the nuclear talks could prove disastrous.
The Guardian and Observer’s Emma Graham-Harrison visited Pyongyang on an organised press trip in 2018 and describes a city in which wary citizens were watched everywhere they went in scenes reminiscent of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Also today: the Guardian’s film editor Catherine Shoard argues that as we enter Hollywood’s award season, a lack of artistic quality will be no barrier to winning the big prizes.
The Guardian is editorially independent. And we want to keep our journalism open and accessible to all. But we increasingly need our readers to fund our work.
Support The Guardian