Dec 29,2017 Special Forum

A Security Perspective

Despite much anticipation and concern, President Donald Trump wrapped up his East Asia trip without making unexpected moves. Although Trump realized economic gains by striking multiple business deals with Asian partners, he made little progress in achieving his primary objective of taking one step further toward resolving the North Korean nuclear problem. 1 As Trump […]

Shin Beomchul*
Donald Trump , Hwaseong 15 , Indo-Pacific strategy , Super 301 , UNSCR 2397 , US-ROK alliance
Sep 29,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (September 2017)

From July to September of 2017, South Korean news editorials discussed threats facing the country from three angles: 1) “Korea scaring,” referring to the latest set of North Korean provocations and deteriorating US-North Korean relations with severe implications for the South; 2) “Korea bashing,” referring to Trump’s increasing vexation with Moon’s talk of appeasement and […]

Eun A Jo
Berlin framework , ICBM , Korea Passing , Nuclear Test , THAAD , US-ROK alliance
Jul 03,2017 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 5, No. 3)

In May and June, challenges mounted for observers of foreign relations in the Asia-Pacific region. Donald Trump kept throwing US policy into question. Clashing views of the Belt and Road forum left some anticipating Chinese leadership in regionalism and globalism, while others saw the forum as making little concrete progress. If the options for Japan […]

Editorial Staff
BRI , Donald Trump , G2 , TPP , US-Japan alliance , US-ROK alliance
Apr 13,2017 Open Forum

Limits of Chinese Patience Toward North Korea and Prospects of Chinese Cooperation with South Korea

The Korean Peninsula is in a state of deep, growing insecurity. To the north, the Kim regime continues to launch ballistic missiles into the East Sea and prepare for what many expect will be further nuclear tests. Alarming too is the regime’s continued purge of the disgruntled elite, which signals heightened internal instability. The use […]

Eun A Jo
Ahn Cheol-soo , Balance of power , core interests , Economic sanctions , Kim Jong-nam , Moon Jae-in , nuclear proliferation , presidential election , Six-Party Talks , THAAD
Dec 30,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: China (December 2014)

The prevailing Chinese narrative is zero-sum, blaming Japan unsparingly and the United States, if in a less vitriolic manner, for regional fragmentation when a path to integration is within reach. Not only is there no hint of any mistakes made by China at any time since the 1949 revolution, there is no indication that compromise […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Dong Jiaxin*)
Japanese containment , New Cold War , Sino-ROK alliance , US-ROK alliance
Oct 29,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: China (October 2014)

Ukraine (Russia), South Korea, India and, as usual, Japan attracted keen attention for their potential to alter the geopolitical environment in Asia. Ukraine’s significance is its impact on Russian relations with both the United States and China. In the case of South Korea its tensions with Japan and forward-looking diplomacy with China led to questions […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Dong Jiaxin*)
Civilizations , hegemonism , India , Look East policy , New Cold War , new defense guidelines , Ukraine , US-ROK alliance
Jun 13,2014 Open Forum

South Korea’s Place in China’s Foreign Policy Discourse

Xi Jinping’s foreign policy agenda for the next ten years envisions a “new type of major power relations” (xinxing daguo guanxi) and proactive, “peripheral diplomacy” (zhoubian waijiao) with neighboring countries. What do these initiatives mean for China’s relations with South Korea? Chinese official and scholarly assessments of the Xi leadership’s current policy directives elucidate possible […]

See-Won Byun
history cooperation , new type of major power relations , peripheral diplomacy , political distrust , US-ROK alliance