September 11,2017 Open Forum

Keeping Northeast Asia “Abnormal”: Origins of the Liberal International Order in Northeast Asia and the New Cold War

Northeast Asia is at a crossroads. One road leads to continued economic growth, regional integration, and globalization, while the other leads to trade-wars, territorial disputes, and an arms race undergirded by resurgent nationalism. If history and geopolitics are our guide, the latter road will be taken. The region is riven by historical animosities, ideological tensions, and territorial di..

Hahm Chaibong*
abnormal states , Cold War , Peace Constitution , Thucydides trap , Yoshida Doctrine
September 05,2017 National Commentaries

A Japanese Perspective

With no end in sight for North Korea to back down from its hardline military stance, and continued worries about Chinese aggression in the region, there is no shortage of concerns that countries across the Asia-Pacific share. The challenge, however, is not identifying the common threats facing the world’s most populous region, or even coming up with potential solutions that could ensure..

Shihoko Goto
Abe Shinzo , AIIB , Pax Americana , TPP
August 23,2017 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 5, No. 4

A relatively quiet summer for think tanks was punctuated by an unusual degree of trepidation about developments in the Asia-Pacific region and US policy responses. Discussions in early summer, when US-South Korean relations appeared threatened, gave way to warnings in August about US-North Korean tensions that could lead to conflict as well as Sino-US relations, decisive to regional pea..

Editorial Staff
BRI , East China Sea , KORUS FTA , OBOR , South China Sea , THAAD , TPP , trilateralism , Trump-Moon summit , Trump-Xi Summit
August 18,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: China (August 2017)

In mid-2017, Chinese analysts were preoccupied with the North Korean nuclear crisis and the South Korean decision to deploy THAAD. They identified uncertainties in the South Korea–China relationship and defined an emerging East Asian regional structure. They also assessed the Trump administration’s foreign policy and criticized Japan’s public diplomacy efforts. North Korean Nu..

Danielle F. S. Cohen
comfort women , Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands , ICBM , secondary sanctions , Strategic accountability , THAAD , TPP , UN sanctions
August 16,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (July 2017)

President Moon made his international debut at the summit with President Trump in Washington and at meetings with the G20 leaders in Germany. His debut was generally considered successful. On the surface, the first meeting between Moon and Trump appeared to be a meaningful one, reaffirming the solidarity of the alliance between South Korea and the United States. However, it also demonstrated ..

Editorial Staff
comfort women , G20 , KORUS FTA , Moon Jae-in , THAAD , Trump-Moon summit
July 03,2017 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 5, No. 3)

In May and June, challenges mounted for observers of foreign relations in the Asia-Pacific region. Donald Trump kept throwing US policy into question. Clashing views of the Belt and Road forum left some anticipating Chinese leadership in regionalism and globalism, while others saw the forum as making little concrete progress. If the options for Japan and Russia appeared to narrow, each remain..

Editorial Staff
BRI , Donald Trump , G2 , TPP , US-Japan alliance , US-ROK alliance
June 29,2017 Special Forum

Introduction

Amid increasing uncertainties in Sino-US relations and Japan-South Korea relations, the late spring of 2017 prioritized US-ROK relations. After Moon Jae-in was elected as president, Seoul-watchers followed closely his policy and personnel decisions. In particular, they focused on their implications for US-ROK relations, as Moon awaits his first summit with Donald Trump, whose policies toward ..

Editorial Staff
comfort women , Donald Trump , FTA , Moon Jae-in , Moon-Trump summit , Sunshine Policy , THAAD , Xi Jinping
June 29,2017 Special Forum

Moon Jae-in’s Foreign Policy & Roh Moo-hyun’s Shadow

40 days into his presidency, Moon Jae-in appointed the nation’s first female foreign minister. However, fine-tuning for policy coherence and clarity on some key foreign policy items among his advisors has yet to happen. The main discord is not about national interests, but more ideological and philosophical, regarding South Korea’s position in the ROK-US alliance matrix and also th..

Lee Seong-hyon
FTA , Moon Jae-in , OPCON , Sunshine Policy , THAAD
June 29,2017 Special Forum

The ROK-US Summit: Divide in the South Korean Media

As the summit between newly elected Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump draws closer, South Korean newspapers are sharply divided over Moon’s policy posture, its potential impact on relations with the United States and China, as well as the prospects of revising Seoul’s approach to North Korea, which may be at odds with the US approach. Moon spoke on June 15 in honor of the 17th annivers..

Editorial Staff
America First , Donald Trump , Moon Jae-in , Otto Warmbier , Sunshine Policy , THAAD
June 29,2017 Special Forum

Moon Jae-in’s “Two-track” Japan Policy: Prospects for Success

President Moon Jae-in and his new government, launched immediately after the election results on May 9, 2017, is taking a “two-track” strategy towards Japan. For example, Moon Hee-sang, deputy chair of the National Assembly and former chair of the Japan-South Korea Dietmen’s League, who headed the special envoy team to Japan, mentioned on his way back home that the “co..

Lee Myon-woo
comfort women , GSOMIA , Moon Jae-in , Revisionism , THAAD , Two-track policy