January 07,2020 National Commentaries

A View from South Korea

The New Southern Policy (NSP) aims to elevate Korea’s strategic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including its member states, and with India, in the process cooperating with Korea’s four major diplomatic partners: The United States, China, Japan, and Russia. It is a novel attempt to put ASEAN member states (AMS) and India at the center of Korea’s..

Sungil Kwak
"Belt and Road" Initiative , ASEAN-ROK summit , Free ad Open Indo-Pacific , New Southern Policy , Saemaeul Movement
January 07,2020 National Commentaries

A View from India

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) under a Pan-Asian framework has figured highly in South Korea’s foreign policy over the last decade. The New Asia Initiative (NAI) in 2009 witnessed South Korea factoring ASEAN in its regional diplomacy, moving away from its excessive focus on Northeast Asia. Unlike ASEAN, India was never accorded a major place in South Korea’s re..

Jagannath Panda
Act East Policy , CEPA , free and open Indo-Pacific , New Southern Policy , RCEP , US-China rivalry
January 07,2020 National Commentaries

A View from Southeast Asia

The 2019 ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit was held in Busan from November 25-26 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-ROK dialogue relations. The summit – a high point of President Moon Jae-in’s New Southern Policy (NSP) since his announcement of the policy in November 2017 – produced several achievements. Many MOUs were signed; bilateral summits were held between t..

Kuik Cheng-Chwee* , Chiew-Ping Hoo
ASEAN-ROK summit , ASEAN+3 summit , Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement , East Asia Vision Group , KOICA , KOTRA , Look East policy , New Southern Policy , ROK-Mekong summit
January 04,2020 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

Several developments since October threaten the current engagement cycle with Pyongyang. North Korea has warned the United States of an ominous “Christmas gift.”1 It has conducted two “very important” missile-related tests in Sohae.2 It has vowed to demolish South Korean facilities in Mount Kumgang.3 It has ignored US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun’s plea ..

Brian Kim
GSOMIA , Mount Kumkang , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war , Worker’s Party
January 04,2020 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II

2019, which began with high hopes for progress in nuclear talks, is coming to an end amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Contrary to expectations, there was no “Christmas surprise” from North Korea. However, North Korea’s state-run media reported on December 22 that Chairman Kim held an expanded meeting of the Central Military Commission of the North’s ru..

Jina Kim
ICBM , Trump-Kim summit , US-ROK alliance , wartime operational control , Worker’s Party
December 31,2019 Open Forum

Russian Commentary on South Korea in 2019

For the last three decades, since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the perception of South Korea in Russia has been generally positive. This has been true with respect to Russia’s general public and the political-expert community as well as the mass media. Such favorable attitudes have much to do with the fact that Russia and Korea have never had serious conflicts and disputes, since th..

Artyom Lukin
Eastern Economic Forum , Finlandization , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , Khasan-Rajin project , Korean wave , New Southern Policy , Nine Bridges Initiative
December 28,2019 Open Forum

Chinese Economic Coercion during the THAAD Dispute

While the US-China trade war has dominated geoeconomic discussions in 2019, great power rivalry is far from the only domain in which economic instruments are being used in the pursuit of political or strategic objectives. Barely a week seems to go by now without reporting of Chinese economic coercion—the threat or imposition of economic costs designed to influence others’ behavior.1..

Darren J. Lim
economic coercion , Economic Interdependence , exit costs , geoeconomics , Lotte , Made in China 2025 , THAAD , Three noes
December 20,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: China (December 2019)

In late 2019, Chinese analysts advocated for a Chinese conception of global governance to replace that previously put forward by the United States and the West. They urged China and South Korea to seize the opportunity created by reduced tensions on the Korean peninsula to strengthen their bilateral security cooperation. They also tried to make sense of the Trump administration’s contra..

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
"Belt and Road" Initiative , community of common destiny , New Southern Policy , Socialism with Chinese Characteristics , THAAD , US-North Korean talks
December 10,2019 Open Forum

Sino-Russian Local Relations: Heihe and Blagoveshchensk

Some argue that troubled cross-border relations defy extravagant claims made about Sino-Russian, such as that an alliance exists. Others argue that those ties have been troubled but have improved to the point that they no longer pose a problem for overall relations. This article recognizes persistent difficulties in the local dimension of the relationship, but it leans to the latter argumen..

Gaye Christoffersen
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Blagoveshchensk , China National Petroleum Corp , Gazprom , Heihe , Power of Siberia , Russian Far East , Silk Road Fund , Trans-Siberian Railroad
December 09,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (November 2019)

Through the fall, Seoul’s relationship with Tokyo has been at its nadir, but relations with both Pyongyang and Washington have also been deeply troubled. While conservative and progressive articles and commentators have differed in their recommendations, neither found much basis for hope. Under pressure, concessions have been made and perceived as responses to desperation. Fear persiste..

Kim Kimberly
CVID , GSOMIA , Mount Geumgang , Pyongyang Declaration , Special Measures Agreement , Trump-Kim summit , US-ROK alliance