February 27,2018

South Korean Public Opinion

The year 2017 brought unusual dynamism all around the world and particularly related to the Korean Peninsula. In the United States, an unprecedented type of president was inaugurated with scant appreciation of alliances and apparent lack of knowledge of the relations between the United States and South Korea, bringing an unfamiliar and wary air to the region. In China, President Xi began his ..

Kim Jiyoon*
Cheonan , KORUS FTA , Pyeongchang Olympics , THAAD , US-ROK alliance
February 27,2018

North Korean Intentions

The Korean Peninsula is at a possible inflection point at the beginning of 2018, defined by the growing nuclear capabilities of North Korea on one hand and the outreach of the North Korean leadership to South Korea on the other. In January 2018 US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Mike Pompeo declared North Korea only “a handful of months” from being able to strike the Un..

Austin Long
byungjin policy , Kim Jong-un , Kim Yo-jung , Nikita Khrushchev , Pyeongchang Olympics , Saddam Hussein
February 27,2018

US-ROK Deterrence Architecture

The North Korean nuclear and missile threat has been rapidly increasing especially since 2017. During this past year, US intelligence agencies released two major new assessments of North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capability that are different from the past ones. The first assessment reduced the time in which North Korea is expected to achieve the ability to attac..

Seol In-hyo* , Lee Jang-wook*
decoupling , Kill-Chain , Korean Air Missile Defense , Korean Massive Punishment and Retaliation , US extended deterrence
February 27,2018

US-ROK Alliance

North Korea’s Olympic outreach brought an easing of tensions between North and South Korea after a year of escalating tensions throughout 2017. After delivering a somewhat conciliatory New Year’s address, Kim Jong-un sent a substantial delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, led by the North’s titular head, Kim Yong-nam, accompanied by Kim Yo-jung, Kim Jong-un&rsqu..

Sue Mi Terry
comfort women , Kim Yo-jung , KORUS FTA , OPCON , Pyeongchang Olympics , THAAD , trilateralism , Victor Cha