Politics

The year 2011 closed with several symbolic events in predicting Japan’s relations with the Korean peninsula. When President Lee Myung-bak held summit talks with Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko on December…

It has become conventional wisdom in recent years to characterize the PRC as an “assertive” power. Since 2008, many commentators and analysts insist that China has become forceful and activist…

At a Russo-Korean summit in August 2011 Kim Jong-il announced his willingness to resume the Six-Party Talks without preconditions, i.e. no denuclearization or apologies. He also accepted Moscow’s long-standing idea…

Change over continuity is now the tenor of the times on the Korean peninsula and beyond. For one thing, the year 2012—dubbed “Super Year”—has begun with election-year politics in many…

In a previous post, we asked the question of whether the Korean electorate was becoming more polarized, looking at the ideological differences across all citizens and those who identified most strongly with the two major parties. Our findings were that politics was becoming somewhat more polarized, but more sharply among partisans than the general public.…

What Happened Merger talks between two opposition candidates, Ahn Cheol-soo and Yoon Seok-yeol, broke down. A recent poll suggests Yoon is still leading the race overall despite the merger falling apart. However, Yoon’s lead is within the margin of error and the merger with Ahn would have more safely secured his position. Implication: Hyperpolarization among…

Despite their record of advancing the U.S.-Korea alliance, South Korea’s progressive foreign policy posture has sometimes been caricatured as “anti-American.” In conjunction with the discussion on February 23, 2022, S. Nathan Park examines why this sentiment is prevalent in Washington D.C. In part one, he discussed how the U.S. policy circle’s close relationship with Korea’s…

What Happened The main opposition party candidate Yoon Seok-yeol promised to investigate the incumbent Moon administration’s “deeply-rooted evil” if elected. While the ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung criticized his opponent’s divisive pledge, news media focused on Lee’s support for the Moon administration’s investigations into previous governments. The opposition party long accused the Moon administration of…