Aug 03,2015 National Commentaries

A Russian Commentary

"The Iran Nuclear Deal and the North Korean Nuclear Issue"   Russian policymakers, academics, and pundits who believe that the Iran deal was good and Russia stands to benefit from it recommend that this multilateral bargaining experience be replicated in disabling Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Those who regard it as the Kremlin’s defeat and fear Russia’s […]

Alexandre Y. Mansourov

Crimea annexation , Iran nuclear deal , National security

Aug 03,2015 National Commentaries

An American Commentary

"The Iran Nuclear Deal and the North Korean Nuclear Issue"   The international nuclear agreement with Iran has generated some speculation about the potential for resurrecting similar negotiations with North Korea. Indeed, the Obama administration’s dramatic shifts in policy toward Burma, Cuba, and now Iran might suggest an analogous gesture toward Pyongyang. But, while a […]

Bruce Klingner

National security , Six-Party Talks , Snap-back clause , Sony hacking

Aug 03,2015 National Commentaries

A South Korean Commentary

"The Iran Nuclear Deal and the North Korean Nuclear Issue"   The nuclear deal reached in Vienna on July 14 between Iran and the six world powers, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany (P5+1), is historic in more than one way. Beyond constraining Iran’s capabilities for nuclear armament, it will […]

Chun Yungwoo*

IAEA , National security , September 19 Joint Statement of 2005 , Six-Party , Talks

Jul 31,2015 Special Forum

The US-China-Japan Triangle and the Concept of “ASEAN Centrality”: Myth or Reality?

ASEAN watchers may have heard of the adage, “when two elephants fight, it’s the grass that gets trampled; and when they make love, the grass suffers as well.” The first part of the adage is said to be an old Swahili proverb, whereas the latter half is an adept appendix by Lee Kuan Yew. The […]

Kuroyanagi Yoneji*

ADIZ , China threat , National security , Regionalism , US-China-Japan triangle

Jul 17,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (July 2015)

With the seventieth anniversary of the end of the war and the division of the Korean Peninsula coming up in August, diplomatic challenges continued, especially in South Korea’s relationships with North Korea and Japan. It was commonly noted that the upcoming anniversary is the best opportunity to make a breakthrough in the two stalled relationships. […]

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)

Middle Power Diplomacy , National security , OPCON , Regionalism , The China Paradox

Apr 30,2015 Open Forum

A Stronger Korea-Mongolia Link in a Changing Northeast Asia

As the constellation of relationships that has dominated Asia for decades begins to evolve towards a new dynamic, the vocabulary of change has begun to foreshadow a very different regional map, with some new trends holding the promise of stronger regional integration while others, perhaps, suggest increasing stresses and frictions. Of course, there is the […]

Mark Minton

AIIB , MCA , Mongolia , NAPCI , National security , Regionalism , Ulaanbaatar Initiative

Apr 09,2015 Special Forum

Four “Middle Power” Pivots to Asia

In this cluster of four articles on pivots to Asia, we expand the range covered in the Special Forum on pivots to Asia posted in the final issue of 2014. There, we included the United States, China, India, Russia, and Japan, concentrating on great powers. We now turn our attention to middle powers, adding Europe […]

Editorial Staff

Middle Powers , National security , Sino-Russia rebalance , US-China rebalance

Feb 16,2015 Open Forum

Beyond Geopolitics: South Korea’s Eurasia Initiative as a New Nordpolitik

Beyond Geopolitics: South Korea’s Eurasia Initiative as a New Nordpolitik 1 On October 18, 2013, at an international conference on Eurasian cooperation in Seoul, Park Geun-hye proposed the “Eurasia Initiative.” Under the watchwords of “one continent, creative continent, and peaceful continent,” the initiative projects a unified system of transport, energy, and trade networks across the […]

Kim Taehwan*

Eurasia Initiative , NAPCI , National security , Nordpolitik , pivot state , Regionalism , trust-building

Sep 29,2014 National Commentaries

A US Perspective

"Reassessing the Park-Xi Summit"   The growing ties between China and the Republic of Korea are among the most consequential changes in East Asian politics, economics, and security of the past several decades. From modest beginnings in 1992 when Beijing formally accepted the reality of two Koreas rather than one, China and the ROK have […]

Jonathan D. Pollack

comprehensive upgrading of relations , Economic Relations , FTA , hot in economy and warm in politics , major middle power , mutual respect , National security , trade dependency , US

Sep 29,2014 National Commentaries

A Japanese Perspective

"Reassessing the Park-Xi Summit"   For understandable reasons, the Japanese paid rapt attention to the July 2014 Seoul summit between China and South Korea. Perhaps, the most compelling reason was to see what stance the two would take on issues concerning Japan, especially the territorial and historical consciousness questions. At the prior June 2013 Beijing […]

Kimura Kan*

China , collective self-defense , Japan , joint ceremony of remembrance , missile defense , National identity , National security , public opinion , South Korea , Southeast Asia