[Herald Interview] Will inter-Korean detente continue after Olympics?

The PyeongChang Winter Olympics have brought about a rare detente between the two Koreas after years of military confrontations over Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missiles programs. The two Koreas created a unified women’s ice hockey team and marched under a unified flag. North Korea even invited President Moon Jae-in for a summit in the North’s capital. 

Yet, with less than a week to go before the Olympics end, there are concerns the Olympic detente will dissipate with the Winter Games closing ceremony. Skeptics have cautioned that cross-border tensions could rise again when South Korea and the US resume their joint military drills after the Olympics.

The Korea Herald contacted five prominent US security scholars --Gary Samore, Sue Mi Terry, Patrick Cronin, Ken Gause and Mike Mazarr – about their views.

Gary Samore is executive director for research at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and former presidential adviser on arms control and nonproliferation.

Patrick Cronin is senior director of the Asia Program at the Center for a New American Security, while Sue Mi Terry is a senior fellow and Korea chair at Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Read the full interview in The Korea Herald.