Dec 23,2015 Special Forum

North Korea’s Place in Sino-Russian Relations and Identities

Sino-Russian relations and the attitudes of each toward the Korean Peninsula have drawn close scrutiny of late, including recent writings by me.1 The Asan Forum has carried relevant articles.2 On China’s attitudes toward reunification, Bonnie Glaser and Yun Sun and Cheng Xiaohe have written in detail.3 Yet, as we take a fresh look at Sino-Russian […]

Gilbert Rozman

3 vs. 3 regionalism , 5 vs. 1 , National security , Six-Party Talks

Aug 27,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II: This Triangle Will Not Take Shape

The argument in favor of a “Sino-Russian-North Korean” triangle in Northeast Asia rests on the notion that Beijing and Moscow need North Korea for reasons that outweigh their broader political and economic interests and that North Korea has no choice but to go along with the triangular arrangement, because the alternative would be complete isolation, […]

Sergey Radchenko

Cold War , Iran nuclear deal , Regionalism , Six-Party Talks

Aug 04,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II: This Triangle Will Take Shape

The arguments against this triangle taking shape are essentially three-fold. First, North Korea will not abandon its nuclear weapons and will not accept a secondary role in relation to China. Thus, the tensions between the two will persist. Second, as Sergey Radchenko argues, Russia has too little to gain from strengthening its ties to North […]

Gilbert Rozman

Cold War , Iran nuclear deal , Regionalism , Six-Party Talks

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

Jun 11,2015 Special Forum

Option 4: Resuming the Six-Party Talks

The Korean Peninsula has been divided for over seventy years, and there is no sign that the division will end any time soon. The ROK and the DPRK are bogged down in a drawn-out competition, in which neither side has made decisive progress in pursuit of national unification. Recently, the competition entered a new stage, […]

Cheng Xiaohe*

NAPCI , Sino-ROK Relations , Six-Party Talks

Feb 10,2015 Open Forum

Synopsis of Five-University Collaboration, Dec. 2014

Agenda: Five University Collaboration on East Asia Security Conflict & Cooperation File Download In mid-December, faculty and graduate students at five universities in five countries met again to exchange views on the state of security in East Asia. Prior conferences had produced thoughtful, constructive exchanges, but no reports were circulated on what they covered and […]

Editorial Staff

Obama-Xi Summit , Six-Party Talks , TPP , Trustpolitik

Aug 31,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: China (August 2014)

An article by Sun Ru in Zhongguo zhoubian distributed in its August 2014 posting took a close look at the US-Japan-South Korea triangle as it was strengthened by the three-way summit in March. It explained that the United States occupies the leading position in this triangle and has succeeded in temporarily getting the other two […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Dong Jiaxin*)

Arms trade , CK FTA , equilibrium , hegemonic thinking , India , public relations battle , Six-Party Talks , Southeast Asia , values-based diplomacy , Xi-Park Summit

Feb 07,2014 National Commentaries

The Six-Party Talks and the P5+1: History Repeating Itself?

"Prospects for a North Korean Nuclear Deal" Mark Twain once remarked that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. As Iran consummates the P5+1 Nuclear Agreement, one can hear the history of the Six-Party Talks rhyming in the air—with disturbing overtones. In the “other Six-Party Talks” (the P5+1), Iran has echoed the successful North […]

David Asher

Illicit Activities Initiative , Iran , P5+ 1 , Science and Technology Agreement , Six-Party Talks , Syria , Worldwide Threat Assessment

Feb 07,2014 Open Forum

Washington Insights: February 2014

US year-end review programs were preoccupied with Syria and Iran with mention of Afghanistan, leaving little or no time for coverage of East Asia. They painted two leaders—Obama and Putin—as weak and strong, respectively, without reference to four other leaders—Xi Jinping, Abe Shinzo, Park Geun-hye, and Kim Jong-un. Events in East Asia, however, would not […]

Editorial Staff

Illicit Activities Initiative , Iran , P5+ 1 , Science and Technology Agreement , Six-Party Talks , Syria , USA , Worldwide Threat Assessment

Jan 10,2014 Open Forum

Synopsis of the CSIS/Asan Seminar: “Iran Nuclear Deal and its Implications for North Korea,” December 11, 2013, Washington, DC, CSIS

The seminar, co-organized by the CSIS and the Asan Institute, brought together prominent experts from the United States and South Korea for a timely discussion about the implications of the Iranian nuclear deal for North Korea. As the introduction by Hahm Chaibong, the president of the Asan Institute, made clear, despite the fragility of the […]

Editorial Staff

Denuclearization , international linkages , Iran , sanctions , Six-Party Talks , transparency