The select gathering, organized by the 'US-DPRK [United States - Democratic People's Republic of Korea] Scientific Engagement Consortium', met at the Bellagio Centre in northern Italy for three days from April 16-18 to discuss "Advancing US-DPRK Relations through Science Engagement and Cooperation".

TWAS already makes a concrete contribution to improving the quality and reach of scientific research in DPR Korea through the South-South Fellowships programme: there are currently 22 DPR Korean nationals who have benefited – or are benefiting – from TWAS fellowships. In addition, there are two TWAS Fellows from DPR Korea. Murenzi confirmed that TWAS was in a good position to offer support and that the meeting and collaborations proposed were "a great example of science diplomacy" in action.

The 'US-DPRK Scientific Engagement Consortium' was established in 2007 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), CRDF Global, the Pacific Century Institute, and Syracuse University and has hosted several meetings with interested parties from the US and DPR Korea over the past four years. In December 2009, a delegation representing the Consortium (including six Nobel laureates) visited the capital of DPR Korea, Pyongyang, to facilitate and promote a series of academic research exchanges. One of the delegates, Stuart Thorson, who now directs research in integrated information technology, involving collaborative research teams from Syracuse University and the Kim Chaek University of Technology in Pyongyang, said: "We were delighted with the openness of the discussions and the mutual agreement that science is a global enterprise in which all scientists benefit from cross-border cooperation and sharing of scientific information. This was especially meaningful to us, as many said we were the first US scientists they had ever met." Nobel laureate and former President of the AAAS, Peter Agre, had also spoken very positively of that first visit to Pyongyang in 2009: "The US and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea now have a scientific opportunity, by engaging scientists, to bridge friendships that may bring our countries closer together." Both Agre and Thorson were also present at the April meeting in Bellagio.

Between 2007 and 2012 there have been many regular meetings hosted by the Consortium, aimed at increasing scientific collaboration between the two nations. Participants from the US have included key officials from the State Department, Congress, technical agencies, scientists, the US National Academy of Sciences and the US Institute of Peace. Numerous meetings have been held with the DPR Korea United Nations Mission in New York City and at the annual AAAS meetings. According to Cathleen A. Campbell, president and CEO of CRDF Global, one of the founding members of the Consortium, "we are hopeful that these meetings will show decision-makers and interested parties in the US and in the DPRK that progress in science engagement can be made by leveraging the diverse resources and capabilities of several unique and complementary institutions."

It is certainly clear that, in the case of the latest meeting of the 'US-DPRK Scientific Engagement Consortium', which included among its participants the Director General of the Korea Science Corporation, Hong Ryun Gi, and the Director of the AAAS Center for Science Diplomacy, Vaughan Turekian, scientists can go where politicians fear to tread.