Dec 16,2016 Special Forum

Facing China: Policy Challenges for the Trump Administration in East Asia

As Donald J. Trump comes to power as the 45th president of the United States, he and his national security and foreign policy team will face significant challenges in dealing with a now-formidable and recently more assertive China. To a great extent, the problems they will encounter in dealing with China would confront any early […]

Jacques deLisle

Agreed Framework , Asia pivot , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , burden-sharing , Charm offensive , constitutional revisionism , cross-Strait relations , Denuclearization , East China Sea , FTAAP

Nov 01,2016 Special Forum

South Korea’s Realignment in 2016: Opportunities, Changes, and Challenges

Since its fourth nuclear test on January 6, 2015, North Korea has been showing off its nuclear capability to acquire the status of a nuclear state. Its parade of nuclear weapons-related tests, which South Korea calls strategic provocations, is casting a dark shadow over not only the Korean Peninsula but also Northeast Asia and the […]

Shin Beomchul*

4thnuclear test , 5th nuclear test , AIIB , Denuclearization , GSOMIA , human rights , Kaesong Industrial Complex , Middle Power Diplomacy , Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative , Park Geun-hye

Nov 01,2016 Special Forum

Synopsis of the Seoul Forum for International Affairs, September 23, 2016

In the early autumn of 2016, there were repeated seminars and exchanges in Seoul and Washington, DC on three interrelated topics: how to respond effectively to the North Korean threat, how to manage Sino-US relations with North Korea more than the South China Sea in the forefront, and how South Korea should reassert its drive […]

Editorial Staff

4th nuclear test , 5th nuclear test , ASEAN , East Asia Summit , Eurasia Economic Union , G2 , Maritime security , Maritime Silk Road , Nordpolitik , offshore balancing

Oct 06,2016 National Commentaries

Seoul’s THAAD decision and its implications for China-ROK relations

On the heels of China’s approval of tougher sanctions on North Korea—following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test—there was, for a moment, a sense that China’s policy on Korea was changing. Many speculated that Beijing had finally abandoned Pyongyang in favor of warming diplomatic and economic relations with Seoul, which would undermine a strengthened US-Japan-ROK alliance. This […]

Eun A Jo

Ballistic Missiles , China-South Korea relations , Nuclear Test , sanctions , Six-Party Talks , SLBM , THAAD , US-South Korean relations

Aug 24,2016 Open Forum

Washington Insights

In the summer of 2016, Washington DC has been consumed with the Clinton-Trump race and the unprecedented revolt of the Republican national security establishment against their party’s presidential candidate. Three bilateral relations have been in flux against the background of increased uncertainty about Sino-US relations.  DC discussions have in particular focused on Sino-Russian relations, while […]

Editorial Staff

alliance building , Cold War , rebalance , sanctions , Sea of Okhotsk , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Six-Party Talks , South China Sea , THAAD

Aug 24,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: China (August 2016)

The Hague tribunal’s adjudication of the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines dominated Chinese foreign policy discussions in mid-2016. Chinese analysts also assessed relations with Russia and India, suggested structural reforms to encourage the resumption of the Six-Party Talks, and considered the implications of Japan’s new security laws. Hague Tribunal on the […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)

Arunachal Pradesh , ASEAN , Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands , East and South China Seas , Eurasian Economic Union , Hague Tribunal , Silk Road Economic Belt , Six-Party Talks , Tibet , Xinjiang

Aug 03,2016 Open Forum

Russia’s Korean Policy since 2012: New Hopes, Achievements, and Disappointments

This article focuses on Russia’s Korean policy since 2012. That year was very important: in North Korea, Kim Jong-un had just come to power at the end of 2011; in Russia, Vladimir Putin returned to the presidential office in May; and in South Korea, leadership changed in the aftermath of Park Geun-hye winning the December […]

Serghei Golunov

Gaeseong Park , Rajin-Khasan , Resolution 2270 , Six-Party Talks , South China Sea , THAAD , USSR

Aug 03,2016 National Commentaries

Implementing Sanctions against North Korea：A Chinese Perspective

North Korea’s repeated nuclear and missile tests have invited international sanctions, including those by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Since 2006, the UNSC passed six resolutions against it, leaving North Korea and the international community bogged down in a drawn-out confrontation. In defiance, North Korea continues to develop its nuclear and missile programs, and […]

Cheng Xiaohe*

Agreed Framework , China-DPRK bilateral relations , China-DPRK trade , Non-proliferation treaty , Resolution 2270 , Six-Party Talks

Jun 24,2016 Open Forum

The Pivot vs. the “Progressives”

For more than a decade the two most divisive issues in East Asia have been the gap over how to deal with: 1) the Sino-US relationship and which side is responsible for damaging it and endangering regional stability; and 2) North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile threats and how best to resolve them. In recent […]

Gilbert Rozman

Asia for the Asians , China first , G2 , hegemonism , Kurt Campbell , Six-Party Talks , Sunshine Policy

Feb 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 […]

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)