Asia

During the two-year period since the outbreak in August 2007 of the U.S. subprime crisis, Korea has felt its severe effects: Korea’s economy contracted sharply and experienced a liquidity crisis.…

There is certainly a place for regionalism in Northeast Asia.1 It already exists in various amorphous ways, but regional identity is relatively weak in Northeast Asia, and for this and…

The rise of China means that the regional (not global) power structure is shifting from unipolarity to bipolarity. Whether this is a positive or negative development depends on a particular…

The dramatic events of recent months—and, above all, North Korea’s second nuclear test and long-range missile launch—demonstrated once again that the Barack Obama administration and the international community at large…

Since the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994 there have been numerous predictions that the collapse of the North Korean political system would be imminent, yet the Kim dynasty continues…

In February 2014, the United Nations' special Commission of Inquiry on on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched their report, laying out more than 400…

Starting from the period after the Korean War and continuing today, more than 100,000 Korean children were adopted around the world. As they get older, many of them decide to…

Much has been said about the power of outside information – news, weather, and even soap operas – to influence the North Korean public. But a new report takes a…

By Troy Stangarone The sudden death of Kim Jong-Il has created the potential for significant uncertainty surrounding both the North Korean leadership and North Korean intentions. While all signs pointed to Kim Jong-un as the designated heir after the 2010 Party Conference, it is unclear if the succession process has fully taken hold and how…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz After Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke in 2008, the transition process appeared to quicken the pace to prepare for a North Korea after the Dear Leader. Now that Kim Jong-il has died, the world will see if the pieces were put into the correct spots for a successful transition of power, especially…

By Troy Stangarone The anniversary of China’s formal entry in to the WTO ten years ago this week comes as a mixed blessing for many of its trading partners. China’s entry into the WTO brought the world’s most populous nation into the rules based trading system that is the WTO and created new economic opportunities…

This week reports emerged that hundreds of North Korean nuclear experts are currently working in major nuclear facilities throughout Iran, adding to suspicions that the two countries have been collaborating in the nuclear realm for some time.  This follows on the heels of reports that Iranian technicians were allegedly dispatched to North Korea to assist in…