In accounting for the surprise summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Korea Society President Thomas Byrne tells Inkstone News that China, "wants to ensure that Kim Jong-un understands well its interests and concerns before Kim meets President Moon and President Trump." Discussing the nature of the upcoming summit meetings in the context of denuclearization dialogues conducted in preceding decades, Mr. Byrne said, "There is a recognition by the US and South Korean governments not to repeat the mistakes of the past and to continue to exert maximum pressure.