Jun 29,2017 Special Forum

Introduction

Amid increasing uncertainties in Sino-US relations and Japan-South Korea relations, the late spring of 2017 prioritized US-ROK relations. After Moon Jae-in was elected as president, Seoul-watchers followed closely his policy and personnel decisions. In particular, they focused on their implications for US-ROK relations, as Moon awaits his first summit with Donald Trump, whose policies toward […]

Editorial Staff

comfort women , Donald Trump , FTA , Moon Jae-in , Moon-Trump summit , Sunshine Policy , THAAD , Xi Jinping

Jun 29,2017 Special Forum

Moon Jae-in’s “Two-track” Japan Policy: Prospects for Success

President Moon Jae-in and his new government, launched immediately after the election results on May 9, 2017, is taking a “two-track” strategy towards Japan. For example, Moon Hee-sang, deputy chair of the National Assembly and former chair of the Japan-South Korea Dietmen’s League, who headed the special envoy team to Japan, mentioned on his way […]

Lee Myon-woo

comfort women , GSOMIA , Moon Jae-in , Revisionism , THAAD , Two-track policy

May 29,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (May 2017)

Park Geun-hye was removed from office on March 10 as the Constitutional Court endorsed the parliament’s impeachment, a first in its history. While there was only an acting president in the country, concerns over “Korea Passing” mounted. There were fears that the five-month-long vacancy in top-level diplomacy in South Korea would accelerate its diplomatic isolation. […]

Editorial Staff

comfort women , Economic sanctions , Korea Passing , KORUS FTA , Moon Jae-in , THAAD , Trump-Xi Summit

May 02,2017 Open Forum

Alliance Trilateralism at a Crossroads

South Korea is facing a nightmarish international environment, wholly unexpected as recently as 2015. Then the country was riding high in its foreign policy agenda: trustpolitik leading to a bonanza, “honeymoon” with Xi Jinping, best relations ever with the United States, a “comfort women” agreement with Japan, and, ahead, the Northeast Asian Peace and Cooperation […]

Editorial Staff

comfort women , Kaesong Industrial Complex , KORUS FTA , Moon Jae-in , Park Geun-hye , Sunshine Policy , THAAD , Trustpolitik

May 01,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (April 2017)

The period February-April has witnessed an outpouring of Japanese articles on ties with the United States (as Trump sets his Asia policies and meets with Abe before meeting with Xi Jinping), China (as Japan toughened its stance toward North Korea and South Korea, while readying for the Trump challenge), Russia (as Abe prepared for a […]

Editorial Staff

Abe-Trump summit , comfort women , Economic sanctions , Kim Jong-nam , Moon Jae-in , Senkaku Islands , Strategic Triangle , Takeshima , THAAD , TPP

Mar 23,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (March 2017)

In the first months of 2017, the cloud of impeachment hung heavily over South Korea’s foreign policy, while China’s anger at the THAAD deployment kept growing, and signs of the Trump administration taking a tough stance against North Korea’s increasingly serious threat capacity were growing too. Seoul’s relations with Tokyo were more troubled than before, […]

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)

Arms Race , ASEAN , comfort women , Eurasia Initiative , impeachment , India , Kaesong Industrial Complex , Kim Jong-nam , missile tests , NAPCI

Feb 28,2017 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 5, No. 1)

Rarely has there been such a tumultuous period in US foreign policy, reflected in DC discussions of it; many unknown figures were joining a new administration as lines of authority and influence were not only in flux, they were in chaos. Few in the think tank community spoke for the Trump team, but on Asia […]

Editorial Staff

Abe Shinzo , Arms trade , ASEAN , Australia , Central Asia , comfort women , contingency , G8 , Georgia , India

Feb 22,2017 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II

Two months following the passage by the ROK National Assembly of a motion of impeachment against Park Geun-hye, power remains in the hands of Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn, South Korean conservatives are split between the pro-Park New Liberty Korea Party and the newly-established anti-Park Bareun (Righteous) Party, and a series of investigations has expanded the […]

Scott Snyder

Abe Shinzo , anti-globalization , Ban Ki-moon , comfort women , Constitutional Court , Hwang Kyo-ahn , impeachment , missile tests , nationalism , Park Geun-hye

Feb 22,2017 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

The Constitutional Court of South Korea has until June to rule for or against the impeachment decision made by the National Assembly last December. As a majority of citizens are clamoring for an early decision, the court is under pressure to deliver the verdict sooner than later. In fact, the ruling is likely to arrive […]

Kim Jaechun*

4th nuclear test , Abe Shinzo , Ban Ki-moon , burden-sharing , comfort women , Constitutional Court , Dokdo , elections , GSOMIA , impeachment

Feb 01,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (January 2017)

Russia appears to be on the precipice of some important change with less optimism than before but more candor about uncertainties. The December Putin-Abe summit left more questions than answers, less a sense of success or failure than of doubt on what comes next. The Putin-Xi summit of late November was perfunctory, coming amid continued […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

Abe Shinzo , ASEAN , Central Asia , comfort women , EAS , energy , Eurasian Economic Union , G7 , Greater Eurasia , GSOMIA