Foreign Relations

The last two years have seen a series of changes affecting regionalism in North- east Asia. One category of changes has been the crises in the areas of economy and…

The relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea is unique; the challenges it faces are not. Next-generation views of the ties between Seoul and Washington do not…

Security relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea, like those of any other two closely entwined neighbors, glisten with the multiple facets of complexity. A number of structural conditions…

Given the growing importance of East Asia to global stability and prosperity, sustaining the five U.S. treaty alliances in the region—Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Thailand, and the Philippines—will…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz Jang Song-taek, Vice-Chairman of North Korea’s National Defense Commission and uncle to Kim Jong-un, returned from China after several days of meetings about economic cooperation between the two nations, especially in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Jang brought back agreements on further SEZ cooperation and a renewed commitment by both parties to…

By Troy Stangarone The end of the Cold War is primarily remembered for the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Soviet Union, and the reunification of Germany. However, in Asia one of its most significant impacts was to pave the way for South Korea and China to establish formal relations two decades…

By Sarah K. Yun After the failed April 13 rocket launch, North Korea seemed to be headed towards increased isolation from the international community. The United Nations Security Council tightened the sanctions regime, while the United States canceled the 24,000 metric tons of food aid that had been part of the “Leap Day” Agreement. However,…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz In a recent column in the New York Times, David Brooks describes the contradictory nature of the Olympic Games to argue that those working in business and politics must be able to embrace and work with opposite impulses in order to be successful. He notes that the world is a contradictory place…