May 26,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (May 2016)

Implementation of Sanctions against North Korea Chun Young-woo opined in the March 25 DongA Ilbo that rigorous implementation is the key to denuclearization of the North. Chun says even such tight implementation would take more than a year until the North changed its behavior and agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Though the Security Council resolution 2270 imposed the highest ..

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)
CICA , Economic sanctions , non-proliferation , Resolution 2270 , THAAD
May 10,2016 Open Forum

Synopsis of the Asan Plenum, “The New Normal,” April 26-27, 2016

[Asan Plenum 2016 Agenda] “North Korea Out of Control, China Overextended, the United States Arousing Doubts, South Korea Sobering Up” The 2016 Asan Plenum put “gloom and doom” in the forefront as the “New Normal,” while offering repeated hints of a polarized “New Order” in Northeast Asia. Instead of deepening troubles awakening states to shared interests in “peace and stab..

Editorial Staff
Donald Trump , New Normal , Nuclear insecurity , Resolution 2270 , SIno-US talks , TPP
April 29,2016 Special Forum

Reviving the US-Japan-Korea Triangle in South Korean Diplomacy

On March 31, 2016, President Obama, President Park, and Prime Minister Abe held a summit in Washington, DC on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit. They agreed to be united in responding to provocative actions by North Korea and to enter into discussions for upgrading security cooperation, as well as to work toward steady implementation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reso..

Park Cheol Hee*
December Accord , Fourth nuclear test , History consciousness , Japanese militarism , Northeast Asian Trilateral Summit , UNSC resolution 2270
April 14,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (April 2016)

In the late winter of 2016, the Japanese mainstream was pleased with US foreign policy, if nervous about campaign rhetoric: reassured about triangularity opposed to North Korea, but still trying to keep dialogue with the North alive for the sake of the abductions issue; exceedingly quiet on Abe’s plan to meet with Putin in Sochi in early May; and disappointed that hopes for improving ti..

Editorial Staff
December 28 Japan-ROK agreement , History textbooks , JICA , South China Sea , Takeshima , Trump
March 25,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (March 2016)

Whereas relations with Japan remained a preoccupation throughout 2015, the December 28 agreement on the “comfort women” issue left more room for attention in 2016 to turn in other directions. In the first months of the new year, after the fourth North Korean nuclear test, the Park administration’s responses grabbed the spotlight, especially the decision to stop the operation..

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)
comfort women , Kaesong Industrial Complex , THAAD
February 23,2016 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 4, No. 1)

The end of 2015 and start of 2016 brought many surprises in international affairs regarding the Indo-Pacific region. The North Korean nuclear and missile tests, the Japan-South Korea “comfort women” agreement, and the economic shocks coming from China, were not anticipated, prompting new discussions at DC think tanks and elsewhere in the DC region. Japan exhibited long-unseen conf..

Editorial Staff
ASEAN , China's Power , CJK summit , G7 Summit , Kaeseong Industrial Complex , North Korean Sanctions , Six-Party Talks , South China Sea , Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
December 23,2015 Special Forum

Introduction to the Special Forum

A lot has happened in Sino-Russian relations in 2014-2015, but some observers still are pondering whether this is a serious, alliance-like relationship with far-reaching impact on the Asia-Pacific region or something more ephemeral, subject to clashing regional interests that could turn the two against each other. Just two years ago a Special Forum assessed Sino-Russian relations in triangular co..

Editorial Staff
National security , North Korea , Regionalism , SCO
December 23,2015 Special Forum

North Korea’s Place in Sino-Russian Relations and Identities

Sino-Russian relations and the attitudes of each toward the Korean Peninsula have drawn close scrutiny of late, including recent writings by me.1 The Asan Forum has carried relevant articles.2 On China’s attitudes toward reunification, Bonnie Glaser and Yun Sun and Cheng Xiaohe have written in detail.3 Yet, as we take a fresh look at Sino-Russian relations in triangular context, the theme of ..

Gilbert Rozman
3 vs. 3 regionalism , 5 vs. 1 , National security , Six-Party Talks
December 07,2015 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 3, No. 6)

Park Geun-hye’s visit to Washington, the aftermath of Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, the state of Japan’s military, Russia’s assertive policy toward Japan, and the state of Central Asia were among the topics that drew scrutiny in autumn discussions in DC. In light of an upsurge in terrorism and great uncertainty over Syria, the pessimistic mood about East Asia was obviously of secondar..

Editorial Staff
Central Asia , East Asian security , National security , Sino-US Relations
October 20,2015 Open Forum

Asia’s Southern Tier and Northern Tier

This article is in three parts: 1) an overview with comparisons; 2) an introduction to analysis of the Southern Tier centered on ASEAN, Australia, and India; and 3) an introduction to analysis directed at the Northern Tier centered on Russia, China, and North Korea. In a rapidly changing Asian landscape, focus on the core of East Asia has the effect of leaving on the margins developments to the so..

Gilbert Rozman
ASEAN , Regionalism , Sino-Russian Relations , triangularity