Asia

South Korean–Middle Eastern relations have been neglected in the literature throughout the years, mainly owing to the focus on Korea’s relations with the United States and Asian states and the…

An old Korean proverb says that when two whales fight it is the shrimps whose backs are crushed. Maybe that proverb best describes Korea’s situation on the trade front these…

The Domestic and International Politics of Spent Nuclear Fuel in South Korea: Are We Approaching Meltdown?

Geography alone would give Russia a prominent role in the Korean peninsula. The Russian Federation currently shares a recently demarcated 17-kilometer common border along the Tumen River with the Democratic…

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.…

Last week, North Korea launched its Seventh Worker's Party Congress, a major meeting of regime leaders that has not been convened in 36 years. Although analysts had high expectations for…

In this episode, we take a step back from the Korean Peninsula and take a look at Northeast Asia from the perspective of one of its neighbors – Russia. In…

On May 1, South Korean President Park Geun-hye will travel to Tehran, Iran for a summit meeting with her counterpart, President Hassan Rouhani. This visit will be the first time a…

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 Nicholas Hamisevicz After South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told National Assembly members Jang Song Taek had been removed from his positions of power in North Korea, more stories have surfaced that, if true, would mean the NIS is on to something. South Korean media recently reported that Jang Song Taek’s money man had…

By Phil Eskeland Last October, the prestigious Gallup organization released a study1 that reported on the level of employee engagement in the workplace based on surveys performed during 2011 and 2012 in more than 140 countries. The aim of this study was to encourage companies and policymakers to support initiatives to increase the number of…