Mar 15,2021 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (March 2021)

Relations with the United States took center stage as South Koreans eyed the formation of the Biden administration, while phone conversations with President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the arrival of a new South Korean ambassador in Tokyo widened the scope of foreign policy concern. The focus of ROK-US relations shifted from […]

Sanghwa Hong

COVID-19 , GSOMIA , Quad , Special Measures Agreement , THAAD , wartime operational control

Jan 21,2021 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (January 2021)

Attention drifted in November 2020 to January 2021 from the election of Joe Biden in the US to the visit of Chinese foreign Minister Wang Yi to action against the spreading of leaflets into North Korea to the handling of court decisions central to the dispute with Japan over the legacy of its occupation of […]

Sanghwa Hong

Anti-leaflet law , comfort women , COVID-19 , GSOMIA , Joe Biden , THAAD

Aug 27,2020 Special Forum

Double Allegiance: Moon Jae-in’s Strategy amid US-China Rivalry

Can a state be a credibly ally and still partner closely with its rival? During the Cold War, no country was allied to one side and strategically tied to the other; it may have accommodated the rival to a degree, but this fell short of any actual aligning behavior. Today, in what is now frequently […]

Eun A Jo

COVID-19 , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , OPCON , THAAD , the Quad , US-China rivalry , US-ROK alliance

Aug 04,2020 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 8, No. 4

In mid-2020, US policy took a decidedly more negative turn toward China, driven by leaders whose foreign policy judgment was highly suspect. While there was bipartisan consensus on what was objectionable in Chinese foreign and domestic policies and on the necessity of a more robust pushback by the US and its allies, the specifics and […]

Editorial Staff

"Belt and Road" Initiative , COVID-19 , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , Hong Kong , the Quad , US-China rivalry , US-Japan alliance , US-ROK alliance , Wolf Warrior Diplomacy

Apr 13,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (April 2020)

Geopolitics were not high on the media’s attention list in the first months of 2020; we need to look back a little to capture the state of the Japanese debate before it was put on hold. The pandemic saw people look inward, but China, its source, and the United States, soon to become its epicenter, […]

Editorial Staff

Abe-Putin summit , COVID-19 , GSOMIA , Senkakus , Shinzo Abe , Tokyo Olympics

Mar 02,2020 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 8, No. 1

The coronavirus originating in Wuhan cast a dark shadow on efforts to look ahead in East Asia. It kept China at the center of attention, while only reinforcing the tendency to analyze events through the prism of Sino-US relations. While some kept their sights on Russia and India in this context—embracing a forward-looking great power […]

Editorial Staff

"Belt and Road" Initiative , Coronavirus , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , THAAD , Tokyo Olympics

Feb 06,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (February 2020)

Ahead of Xi Jinping’s anticipated visit in spring, one might have expected Japan to be in an upbeat mood toward China, as was the case in advance of Vladimir Putin’s visit in 2016. As in the spate of articles on Russia at that time, the heavy coverage of North Korea early this year, and of […]

Editorial Staff

"Belt and Road" Initiative , "Hate Korea” , China-Japan-ROK summit , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , RCEP , Tsai Ing-wen

Jan 23,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (January 2020)

In December 2019, tensions increased on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea’s self-imposed year-end deadline approached. North Korea conducted two rocket engine tests at Tongchang-ri to pressure the US while Kim signaled through his horseback ride at Mount Paektu that he may unveil his “new path.” In response, the UN Security Council held an emergency […]

Yumi Ko

byungjin policy , GSOMIA , Moon-Xi summit , Mount Paektu , Strait of Hormuz , US-ROK alliance

Jan 23,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (January 2020)

An aura of bravado pervaded Russian publications at the end of 2019. Putin had succeeded in diplomacy around the world, reestablishing Moscow as a decisive voice in world affairs. The relationship with China was solid with scant concern and that with the US was indefinitely on the rocks. Strategic stability had again risen to the […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

China-Japan-ROK summit , Greater Eurasia , GSOMIA , Moon-Xi summit , US-China trade war

Jan 04,2020 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

Several developments since October threaten the current engagement cycle with Pyongyang. North Korea has warned the United States of an ominous “Christmas gift.”1 It has conducted two “very important” missile-related tests in Sohae.2 It has vowed to demolish South Korean facilities in Mount Kumgang.3 It has ignored US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun’s plea […]

Brian Kim

GSOMIA , Mount Kumkang , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war , Worker’s Party