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

Sep 22,2016 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II

China-Russia relations appear to have gained considerable momentum in recent years. A think tank report published this year, co-authored by Russian and Chinese experts, argues that, in the security sphere, “both states have closely approached the line that separates strategic partnership from military-political alliance,” though neither state wishes to cross this line.1 This summer’s events, […]

Brian G. Carlson

Eurasian Economic Union , One Belt One Road , Power of Siberia , Russia Far East , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Siberia , THAAD , US hegemony

Aug 29,2016 Special Forum

South Korean views of Chinese history

Residents of both the ROK and the PRC often invoke their respective nation’s millennia-old history as an integral part of their identity and worldview. One might find, therefore, that a sense of history would have an influence on relations between the two neighbors. While history and historical consciousness can, indeed, be seen to play a […]

Kirk W. Larsen

Arirang , Dano Festival/Duanwujie , Koguryo/Gaogouli dispute , Northeast Project , Paektu/Changbai , THAAD , UNESCO , Yanbian Farmers' Dance

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 12,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (August 2016)

In late spring and early summer, the focus of the Japanese media shifted from the G7 and Obama’s visit to Hiroshima to the South China Sea ruling and China’s angry response, followed by intensified pressure on ASEAN. The overall impact was for Japan to strengthen relations with the United States (despite nervousness about Trump) and […]

Editorial Staff

comfort women , Donald Trump , EEU-ASEAN , G7 Summit , Hashimoto-Yeltsin plan , Senkaku Islands , South China Sea , Takeshima , THAAD

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 US Perspective

By all accounts, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270 represents a significant and unexpected advance of the authority given to the UN and member states to pursue sanctions against the DPRK. Language referring to North Korean coal, iron ore, and jet fuel was unprecedented, and the demands for member state action were more insistent, […]

James Walsh

Resolution 2270 , South China Sea , THAAD , UN Panel of Experts

Aug 03,2016 National Commentaries

Implementing Sanctions against North Korea：A South Korean Perspective

North Korea’s latest nuclear and missile tests have compelled the international community to issue the most comprehensive round of sanctions against it. UNSC Resolution 2270 not only strengthens existing measures toward non-proliferation but also includes more effective financial and economic sanctions, and urges stricter enforcement by member states. . Significantly, it targets North Korea’s export […]

Go Myong-hyun*

Agreed Framework , Kaesong Industrial Complex , nuclear policy , Resolution 2270 , THAAD , WMDs

Jul 27,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (July 2016)

Three international thunderbolts of late June and early July drew intense responses in the South Korean media. The decision to deploy THAAD in South Korea was recognized as destabilizing relations with China and Russia, affecting the diplomatic balance that Seoul had been striving to cultivate since the end of the Cold War. The international court […]

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)

Cold War , Russia-China-North Korea , South China Sea , THAAD , US-Japan-South Korea

Jun 15,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: China (June 2016)

In the spring of 2016, Chinese analysts considered the repercussions of North Korea’s latest nuclear test. They assessed the prospects for China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) policy, with particular attention to its implementation in Iran and Afghanistan. They also evaluated the prospects for Sino–Russian cooperative relations, and sharply criticized Japan’s intervention in the South […]

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

Afghan reconstruction , Cuban missile crisis , enuclearization , Japanese intervention , Sino-Iranian relations , SLOC , Sustainable security , THAAD