Politics

In the first months of 2013 the leadership transitions in Northeast Asia were completed. After a year in office Kim Jong-un was consolidating his grip on power and clarifying, through…

The countries bordering China are in the forefront in facing the challenge of a widening divide between China and the United States. Others, including those in Parts I and III,…

In April 2013 North Korea was determined to show the world that it was prepared to stop at nothing in order to be accepted as a nuclear power. Instead of…

2012 was a year of leadership transition in China and a presidential election in the United States. At the 18th Congress of China’s Communist Party in November, Hu Jintao passed…

By Troy Stangarone It has generally been acknowledged that the U.S.-Korea alliance is at an all time high. At a time of rising international challenges from the 2008 global financial crisis to enhanced efforts to secure nuclear materials, Korea has played an increasingly prominent role on the global stage and become a key partner for…

By Sarah K. Yun On Friday, March 16, 2012, North Korea announced that it will launch a long-range rocket in April which will carry a “working” satellite. The Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s state-run media, stated that the satellite named Kwangmyongsong-3 will “strictly abide by relevant international regulations and usage concerning the launch of…

By Chad O'Carroll In 2012 South Korea will hold elections for both the National Assembly and the presidency, the first time that both votes will be in held during the same year in several decades. With South Korean president’s being limited to a maximum term of five years, Lee Myung-bak will be ending his term in…

By Troy Stangarone On February 10, rumors that Kim Jong-un had been assassinated at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing began to rapidly spread across the internet. First making their way around Weibo and then jumping to Twitter, word of Kim Jong-un’s death eventually spread as far as the floor of the New York Stock…