Professor Robert E Kelly from the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Pusan University is pessimistic about how much the upcoming Korean summits will achieve.

He told The Conversation that the Trump-Kim summit is likely "to be a bust" because the Americans aren't prepared for the negotiations, while the summit between the two Koreas is more important for issues of economic cooperation and military transparency.

On the reunification of Korea, Kelly says while he wouldn't put a timeline on it he would "be amazed if North Korea would hang on in perpetuity - it's just not designed to deal with modernity."

Robert E Kelly will be appearing in Canberra as part of the Lowy Lecture Series on Wednesday May 2 and at the Sydney Writers' Festival from Friday May 4 - Sunday May 6.