The Case of Moon Jae-in
Jan 20,2020 Special Forum

The Case of Moon Jae-in

The fact that North Korea assumes such center stage in the conduct of South Korea’s foreign and security policies is hardly surprising. Seventy years since the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the two Koreas remain locked in confrontation. Despite multiple political and diplomatic initiatives since the early 1990s, all of the principal actors […]

Lee Chung Min*
inter-Korean summit , Moon Jae-in , Pyeongchang Winter Olympics , Sunshine Policy , Trump-Kim summit , US-ROK alliance
A View from South Korea
Mar 01,2019 National Commentaries

A View from South Korea

Trump: Negotiator-in-Chief As US President Donald Trump wraps up his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with the announcement of a major foreign policy victory, we are reminded of Senator Howard Baker’s famous words in the Watergate hearings: “What did the president know, and when did he know it?” When the most powerful […]

Lee Chung Min*
Hanoi summit , King Kojong , Munich Agreement , Singapore Summit , US-ROK alliance
Running into a Long Brick Wall? Trump and the Future of US-China Relations
Dec 16,2016 Special Forum

Running into a Long Brick Wall? Trump and the Future of US-China Relations

The surprise election of Donald Trump as the United States’ 45th president triggered alarm bells in capitals across the world including Beijing, given Trump’s haphazard foreign policy remarks throughout the campaign and his propensity to trust his gut judgment on a range of critical issues. Hence, just how Trump is going to move on key […]

Lee Chung Min*
APEC , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Balance of power , burden-sharing , climate change , Duterte , FTAAP , Iran , ISIS , NATO
The South Korean Perspective
Oct 12,2015 National Commentaries

The South Korean Perspective

"The Challenge for Park’s Summit with Obama after Abe’s Summit."   As President Park Geun-hye prepares for her meeting with President Barack Obama on October 16, her visit will bring to a close a year of intensive summitry between the US president and his key counterparts in Asia.1 On April 26-May 3, Prime Minister Abe […]

Lee Chung Min*
China's military parade , Japan-US alliance , Japanese SDF , National security , North Korea , Sino-ROK Relations
A South Korean Perspective
May 15,2015 National Commentaries

A South Korean Perspective

  "Reading Abe’s Washington Visit"   A View from Seoul   From the standpoint of what Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and President Barack Obama wanted to achieve during the most recent US-Japan summit, Abe’s US tour was a resounding success. While a last-minute breakthrough on TPP did not materialize, the two leaders vowed to expedite […]

Lee Chung Min*
China’s rise , comfort women , historical revisionism , Kono Statement , territorial issues
Recalibrating the Rebalance: A View from South Korea
Apr 09,2015 Special Forum

Recalibrating the Rebalance: A View from South Korea

Akin to other key Asian powers that have a long-standing alliance with the United States, South Korea has welcomed America’s renewed attention to Asia although this is hardly surprising given historically high positive perceptions of the United States and the ROK-US alliance. According to a report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies […]

Lee Chung Min*
AIIB , CFC , Sino-DPRK relations , THAAD
South Korea’s Strategic Thinking on North Korea and Beyond
Oct 07,2013 Special Forum

South Korea’s Strategic Thinking on North Korea and Beyond

For more than six decades, South Korea has coped with one of the most enduring geopolitical asymmetries in the world, namely, the South-North conundrum on the Korean Peninsula. Virtually every aspect of Seoul’s policies and strategies towards Pyongyang is governed by this fundamental quandary that has resulted oftentimes in contrasting and even conflicting approaches and […]

Lee Chung Min*
hybrid security template , need for security guidance , North Korea , North Korea challenges , opinion surveys , polarized worldviews