March 19,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (April 2018 with Focus on Korea)

Not only was Abe battered by a domestic scandal, his foreign policy was rocked by diplomacy, history, and trade shocks. The North Korean presence at the Winter Olympics saw Japanese media warning about Seoul turning soft and breaking away from the “maximum pressure” approach of Tokyo and Washington, which was reinforced by warnings in early March about North-South plans for a su..

Editorial Staff
“smile diplomacy” , comfort women , Dokdo/Takeshima , Pyeongchang Olympics , Six-Party Talks , Yasukuni
March 19,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (March 2018)

Three themes dominated the coverage in Russian analyses of the Asia-Pacific region: 1) China’s shift toward authoritarianism and tensions in the West over perceived Chinese protectionism; 2) aspects of Sino-Russian relations; and 3) fast-moving developments related to North Korea. Also, a miscellaneous category is required to capture other issues raised in the latter part of the winte..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
BRI , Greater Eurasia , Russian Far East , Southern Kuril Islands , Trump-Kim summit , Xi Jinping
March 08,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (March 2018)

In February and March 2018, South Korean news editorials focused on developments in US-South Korean relations and inter-Korean relations before, during, and after the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. On US-South Korean relations, analysts discussed Trump’s State of the Union address and the withdrawal of Victor Cha as the nominee for US ambassador to South Korea—both highlighting Tru..

Eun A Jo
Kim Jong-chul , Kim Yo-jung , Mike Pence , North-South talks , Pyeongchang Olympics , trade war , Victor Cha
February 27,2018 Special Forum

Introduction

As the diplomatic prospects for resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis took center stage while the military focus remained fixed on North Korea’s persistent advances and the “fire and fury” that President Trump threatened to unleash, it remained important in the first months of 2018 to keep the eyes of the international community on South Korea’s own national securi..

Editorial Staff
comfort women , KORUS FTA , Pyeongchang Olympics , THAAD , US-ROK alliance
February 27,2018 Special Forum

South Korean Public Opinion

The year 2017 brought unusual dynamism all around the world and particularly related to the Korean Peninsula. In the United States, an unprecedented type of president was inaugurated with scant appreciation of alliances and apparent lack of knowledge of the relations between the United States and South Korea, bringing an unfamiliar and wary air to the region. In China, President Xi began his ..

Kim Jiyoon*
Cheonan , KORUS FTA , Pyeongchang Olympics , THAAD , US-ROK alliance
February 27,2018 Special Forum

North Korean Intentions

The Korean Peninsula is at a possible inflection point at the beginning of 2018, defined by the growing nuclear capabilities of North Korea on one hand and the outreach of the North Korean leadership to South Korea on the other. In January 2018 US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Mike Pompeo declared North Korea only “a handful of months” from being able to strike the Un..

Austin Long
byungjin policy , Kim Jong-un , Kim Yo-jung , Nikita Khrushchev , Pyeongchang Olympics , Saddam Hussein
February 27,2018 Special Forum

US-ROK Deterrence Architecture

The North Korean nuclear and missile threat has been rapidly increasing especially since 2017. During this past year, US intelligence agencies released two major new assessments of North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capability that are different from the past ones. The first assessment reduced the time in which North Korea is expected to achieve the ability to attac..

Seol In-hyo* , Lee Jang-wook*
decoupling , Kill-Chain , Korean Air Missile Defense , Korean Massive Punishment and Retaliation , US extended deterrence
February 27,2018 Special Forum

US-ROK Alliance

North Korea’s Olympic outreach brought an easing of tensions between North and South Korea after a year of escalating tensions throughout 2017. After delivering a somewhat conciliatory New Year’s address, Kim Jong-un sent a substantial delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, led by the North’s titular head, Kim Yong-nam, accompanied by Kim Yo-jung, Kim Jong-un&rsqu..

Sue Mi Terry
comfort women , Kim Yo-jung , KORUS FTA , OPCON , Pyeongchang Olympics , THAAD , trilateralism , Victor Cha
February 20,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: China (February 2018)

In late 2017 to early 2018, Chinese analysts explored Modi’s Indian Ocean policy and evaluated the construction of the Indo-Pacific as a region and its implications for quadrilateral security cooperation between the United States, Japan, India, and Australia. They also analyzed the security dilemma on the Korean Peninsula and China’s security relations with the states of Northeast..

Danielle F. S. Cohen
"common security" , free and open Indo-Pacific strategy , proactive pacifism , Project Mausam , Quadrilateral Security Dialogue , THAAD
February 19,2018 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario I

“History Bows to Strategy” In East Asia, disputes over history seem to be either roiling the region’s international relations—or lurking just beneath the surface. China emphasizes Japan’s atrocities in the Sino-Japanese war, notably the Nanjing Massacre, in its history education, commemoration, and state-controlled media. History issues also rankle Seoul and Tokyo..

Jennifer Lind
Ahn Jung-geun , comfort women , Dokdo/Takeshima , Nanjing Massacre , Senkaku/Diaoyu , Yasukuni Shrine