Japan

This week, we delve into how Japan views the security threat from China, and how these perceptions shape Japanese policy. For this, we turn to security expert Dr. Narushige Michishita.…

In the decades following the Korean War, North Korea initiated a top-secret project to kidnap ordinary people from Japan, reeducate them, and turn them into international spies for the regime.…

      President Obama wasn’t the only leader who had to make important visits to multiple Asian countries this past April. Australia’s Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, had to make an important…

By Chad O’Carroll On Friday the Associated Press Pyongyang bureau reported that North Korean authorities will allow foreign visitors to access the internet using cellular devices from March 01. Predictably, the news was published with the caveat that access conditions will not change for local citizens, who will remain cut off from internet access and…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz Initial KCNA and other reports about the September 25, 2012 Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) meeting indicate North Korea has made no public announcement on economic or agricultural reforms as anticipated by numerous press articles and North Korea watchers. Proclamations following the meeting emphasized changes to North Korea’s education system. Thus, those that…

As a new feature here on the on The Peninsula blog we will be featuring weekly polling data from South Korea in association with The Asan Institute for Policy Studies. The polls from The Asan Institute for Policy Studies will feature weekly tracking data for presidential and legislative approval, as well as head-to-head match-ups for…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz Jang Song-taek, Vice-Chairman of North Korea’s National Defense Commission and uncle to Kim Jong-un, returned from China after several days of meetings about economic cooperation between the two nations, especially in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Jang brought back agreements on further SEZ cooperation and a renewed commitment by both parties to…