For Korea watchers, the biggest event of May 2021 was the first summit meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, which came a few weeks after the White House announced that its North Korea policy review was finally complete.

The two presidents vowed to work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, building on the 2018 Panmunjom and Singapore agreements signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Moon and Biden also promised to keep implementing DPRK-related international sanctions. Biden appointed Sung Kim as the country’s new special envoy to North Korea, which