Korea Policy Vol. 1, Issue 2

Korea Policy Vol. 1, Issue 2

Rhetoric vs. Reality: Seoul & Washington’s Strategic Alignment on Taiwan

Seoul has gradually adopted a more outspoken position regarding the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and framed it in increasingly expansive terms—as a regional and global issue yet also directly linked to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula. Nevertheless, the U.S.-ROK alliance faces a…

Comparative Approaches to the Indo-Pacific Region in 2022-23

The United States-South Korea-North Korea Strategic Triangle in the Indo-Pacific

The development of the concept of the Indo-Pacific strategy, since its adoption by the United States in 2017, has primarily been driven by the emergence of China as an object of strategic concern and a perceived threat in the United States and South Korea. The main impacts of a rising…

United States and Southeast Asian Indo-Pacific Approaches Compared

While the use of the term “Indo-Pacific” is relatively new, debates about its use echo longstanding arguments about how the region should be defined: who is in, who is out, and on what terms. Under two successive U.S. administrations, the term Indo-Pacific has become the accepted way that the United…

How the United States Gained Momentum over China in the Indo-Pacific

In 2020, Xi Jinping was on a roll. Donald Trump had left U.S. alliances in disarray and the home front in discord, unable even to unite against a pandemic. U.S. allies South Korea and Japan saw China (and Russia too) in ways at odds with U.S. strategy—Moon Jae-in depending on…