Foreign Relations

The relationship between South Korea and Japan resembles a seesaw or a pendulum. Ups and downs are normal. The Lee Myong-bak administration is no exception, although many expected a different…

The U.S.-South Korea alliance has flourished under Presidents Obama and Lee Myungbak. It is difficult to find words of criticism for the alliance in either Washington or Seoul as Obama…

In his recent work Gilbert Rozman explains the growing tensions between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and United States in terms of the symbolic politics of a widening “identity…

How do the Japanese view the Sino-U.S. national identity gap? Their views are naturally informed by their own national identities and their national identity gaps with China and the United…

Time is running out regarding threats to the world’s undersea cables: The world needs to start acting, rather than just discussing the problem, since more attacks on this critical infrastructure are happening in reality. South Korea is well-positioned to become a leader in creating a new regime that regulates the undersea cable industry. As one…

South Korea established full diplomatic relations with Cuba on February 15, 2024, when the ambassadors of the two countries to the United Nations in New York City exchanged diplomatic notes formally establishing diplomatic ties.  The move was unexpected since there had been no recent public reports that the two countries were engaged in discussions regarding…

South Korea’s rapprochement with Japan and North Korea’s embrace of Russia significantly shaped events on the Korean Peninsula in 2023. Both promise to have a substantial impact on events in the coming year. After years of declining relations, South Korea took the initiative to mend ties with Japan by proposing a path for resolving the…

The war in Ukraine directly and indirectly impacted policy and perceptions on and around the Korean Peninsula, starting with Russia’s invasion in early 2022 and continuing apace in 2023. Although the war has provided Seoul the opportunity to enhance its contributions to global security, simultaneously it presents challenges that accelerate its security concerns closer to…