Asia

As the reigning consensus has it, the U.S.-ROK alliance is one of the most successful of its kind in history. The alliance not only succeeded in defending South Korea from…

The history of the first of North Korea’s nuclear proliferation crises has received considerable attention and analysis. The regional implications of a nuclear North Korea were signaled clearly and repeatedly…

The North Korean Nuclear Program and Peace Process: Past, Present, and Future

Economic relations between North Korea and South Korea broke major new ground in 2005. Inter-Korean trade increased by more than 50 percent over the previous year and exceeded $1 billion…

When Kim Jong-il died in 2011, the world held its breath as North Korea entered uncharted waters. No other communist dictatorship in the last century – for that matter no…

On June 25, 1950, North Korea launched a surprise invasion of South Korea and started a war that is still technically ongoing. But it was – as North Korea’s Kim…

The North Korean economy is changing – we know this because of widely reported growth of private markets since the famine of 1990s. But black markets and illicit activities are…

In May, The Korean-born Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin was named The National League Pitcher of the Month. When you think of Asians and baseball, you might think first…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz South Korean President Park Geun-hye travelled to India this week for her first overseas trip in 2014. After meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 16, the two sides issued a “Joint Statement for Expansion of the Strategic Partnership.” Expansion is an accurate way to describe current relations between South…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz It is the start of a new year, which means it is time to start parsing through North Korea’s New Year’s message. Like last year, Kim Jong Un delivered the New Year’s message in a speech. These are the first major policy guidelines and ideas announced since the purge of his uncle,…

By Troy Stangarone In a sense, the events of 2013 on the Korean peninsula began in December of 2012. In the days leading up to South Korea’s presidential election, North Korea successfully put its first satellite in orbit, defying UN prohibitions on long-range missile tests. Less than a week later, South Korea would elect Park…

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…