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 24,2017 Open Forum

The Limitations of “Global Korea’s” Middle Power

2010 was a pivotal year for the Republic of Korea: as host of the G20 Leaders’ Summit—the first non-G7 and non-Western country to do so—the relatively small country earned international recognition as a significant force in the global arena. If the 1988 Seoul Olympics was South Korea’s debut on the international stage, then the Seoul […]

Balbina Y. Hwang
anti-globalization , BRICS , Cold War , G20 , G7 , impeachment , liberalism internationalism , middle power , Middle Power Diplomacy , MIKTA
Feb 22,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: China (February 2017)

In late 2016-early 2017, Chinese analysts examined state-level decision-making on the Korean Peninsula. In the first batch of articles written after the Hague tribunal’s decision, they explored China’s approach to ASEAN, interpreted Duterte’s new China policy, and assessed ASEAN maritime management. They also considered the origins and implications of Abe’s nationalism and the prospects for […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
ASEAN , ASEAN Maritime Forum , ASEAN Regional Forum , ASEAN+3 , community of common destiny , Duterte , East Asia Summit , energy , G7 , Greater Mekong Subregion
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 09,2017 Special Forum

Shifting the Strategic Balance to Force North Korea to Change

This article proposes a new strategy to force a change in North Korea, a change that will result in a regime that does not develop nuclear weapons, does not threaten its neighbors, insures its citizens have the human rights as defined by the United Nations, and is on the road toward reunification with the ROK. […]

General (Ret.) Walter L. Sharp
forced labor , information campaign , intelligence sharing , Korean reunification , military buildup , missile defense system , missile tests , nuclear tests , provocations , ROK-US Alliance
Feb 01,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (January 2017)

The leadership vacuum created in December has raised questions about the legitimacy of both the domestic and foreign policies of the South Korean government. With opposing party candidates leading the poll for the 2017 presidential election likely to be advanced, they are calling for reversing controversial Park administration foreign policies like THAAD deployment, the 2015 […]

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)
Abe Shinzo , Balance of power , balancer , comfort women , Denuclearization , GSOMIA , isolationism , Kaesong Industrial Complex , Korea Air Defense Identification Zone , One China policy
Nov 30,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (November 2016)

Recently, domestic events have so dominated the news that foreign affairs coverage has been reduced to only occasional stories. The Trump election was an unavoidable theme. The aftermath of North Korea’s fifth nuclear test in September continues to draw some notice. Finally, the decision to sign an intelligence sharing agreement with Japan aroused some responses. […]

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)
5th nuclear test , EDSCG , GSOMIA , KORUS FTA , Nuclear threat , offshore balancing , ROK-US Alliance , strategic patience , THAAD , Trump administration
Nov 01,2016 Special Forum

South Korean Domestic Support for the US Alliance

Both in Seoul and in Washington, the nature of the ROK-US alliance has become a hot topic. Not only the issues of THAAD and the South China Sea, but, more generally, deteriorating relations between the United States and China have made people in both countries concerned about the impact on ROK-US ties. Before this kind […]

Woo Jung-Yeop*
1994 Agreed Framework , 2008 beef import protests , anti-American sentiment , axis of evil , Jeju naval base , Korean unification , KORUS FTA , Middle Power Diplomacy , nuclear proliferation , public opinion