Japan

Despite being industrial powerhouses, Korea and Japan are both resource-poor nations with limited domestic sources of energy. Powering their economies required both to develop supply chains for fossil fuels, nuclear…

With relations between Korea and Japan improving over the last year the leaders of the United States, Korea, and Japan met in Washington on August 18 to discuss a common…

This month, the world was reminded once again that the relationship between the Republic of Korea and Japan is deeply fractious. Japan has imposed restrictions on the export of chemical…

With the world's attention on Singapore on June 12, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un walked across a stage flanked by American and North Korean…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz On December 26, Japan’s Prime Minister Abe Shinzo visited the Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial Shinto shrine that honors Japanese war dead, including fourteen Class-A war criminals. The visit is unlikely to do much harm to Abe domestically, but foreign policy in the region will be a casualty. The visit confirms South Korean and Chinese perceptions…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz It looks like South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) got it right when they suggested to National Assembly members that Jang Song Taek had been removed from his leadership posts in North Korea. Kim Jong-un made it very clear and very public that Jang Song Taek was out of favor and out…

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…