January 20,2020 Special Forum

Introduction

The six countries of Northeast Asia are led by leaders known for their assertiveness. This forum excludes the two who are most bellicose: Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. Despite some claims at times that they could be swayed to make a deal, their inclination to resort to provocations is no longer in doubt. Abe Shinzo spent years wooing Putin in the hope that he would forsake a threatening pos..

Gilbert Rozman
Abe Shinzo , Donald Trump , Moon Jae-in , Xi Jinping
January 20,2020 Special Forum

The Case of Xi Jinping

In January 1980, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping gathered senior cadres from the upper reaches of the country’s political system to discuss "the present situation and the tasks before us."1 Just two weeks into the new decade, Deng sensed that the 1980s would be “a dangerous decade” typified by “great turbulence and crises.” But it was also, he exhorted, a ..

Jude Blanchette
"Belt and Road" Initiative , AIIB , community of common destiny , Global Financial Crisis , national rejuvenation , New Development Bank , Xi Jinping
January 20,2020 Special Forum

The Case of Donald Trump

Donald Trump came to office vowing to make many changes in US foreign policy, whether in terms of labeling China a currency manipulator,1 and addressing the US–China bilateral trade deficit,2 or questioning the value of alliances. As we enter 2020, it is worth reviewing how US Indo-Pacific policy has changed under the Trump administration, highlighting areas of change, continuity, and the le..

Scott W. Harold
Donald Trump , free and open Indo-Pacific , freedom of navigation operations , Huawei , maximum pressure , the Quad , TPP , Trump-Kim summit
January 20,2020 Special Forum

The Case of Abe Shinzo

 On November 20, 2019, Abe Shinzo became the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history, at 2,887 days, surpassing the previous record held by Katsura Tarō in the early 1900s. If Abe serves out his current third three-year term, he will be in office until September 2021. Inclusive of his one-year tenure in 2006-2007, he will have served as prime minister for 10 years. This is a rem..

Glen S. Fukushima
Abe Shinzo , Abenomics , comfort women , Kantei , Liberal Democratic Party , Northern Territories , TPP , Yasukuni Shrine
January 20,2020 Special Forum

The Case of Moon Jae-in

The fact that North Korea assumes such center stage in the conduct of South Korea’s foreign and security policies is hardly surprising. Seventy years since the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the two Koreas remain locked in confrontation. Despite multiple political and diplomatic initiatives since the early 1990s, all of the principal actors in the North Korean nuclear saga have fai..

Lee Chung Min*
inter-Korean summit , Moon Jae-in , Pyeongchang Winter Olympics , Sunshine Policy , Trump-Kim summit , US-ROK alliance
January 07,2020 National Commentaries

A View from South Korea

The New Southern Policy (NSP) aims to elevate Korea’s strategic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including its member states, and with India, in the process cooperating with Korea’s four major diplomatic partners: The United States, China, Japan, and Russia. It is a novel attempt to put ASEAN member states (AMS) and India at the center of Korea’s..

Sungil Kwak
"Belt and Road" Initiative , ASEAN-ROK summit , Free ad Open Indo-Pacific , New Southern Policy , Saemaeul Movement
January 07,2020 National Commentaries

A View from India

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) under a Pan-Asian framework has figured highly in South Korea’s foreign policy over the last decade. The New Asia Initiative (NAI) in 2009 witnessed South Korea factoring ASEAN in its regional diplomacy, moving away from its excessive focus on Northeast Asia. Unlike ASEAN, India was never accorded a major place in South Korea’s re..

Jagannath Panda
Act East Policy , CEPA , free and open Indo-Pacific , New Southern Policy , RCEP , US-China rivalry
January 07,2020 National Commentaries

A View from Southeast Asia

The 2019 ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit was held in Busan from November 25-26 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-ROK dialogue relations. The summit – a high point of President Moon Jae-in’s New Southern Policy (NSP) since his announcement of the policy in November 2017 – produced several achievements. Many MOUs were signed; bilateral summits were held between t..

Kuik Cheng-Chwee* , Chiew-Ping Hoo
ASEAN-ROK summit , ASEAN+3 summit , Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement , East Asia Vision Group , KOICA , KOTRA , Look East policy , New Southern Policy , ROK-Mekong summit
January 04,2020 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

Several developments since October threaten the current engagement cycle with Pyongyang. North Korea has warned the United States of an ominous “Christmas gift.”1 It has conducted two “very important” missile-related tests in Sohae.2 It has vowed to demolish South Korean facilities in Mount Kumgang.3 It has ignored US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun’s plea ..

Brian Kim
GSOMIA , Mount Kumkang , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war , Worker’s Party
January 04,2020 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II

2019, which began with high hopes for progress in nuclear talks, is coming to an end amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Contrary to expectations, there was no “Christmas surprise” from North Korea. However, North Korea’s state-run media reported on December 22 that Chairman Kim held an expanded meeting of the Central Military Commission of the North’s ru..

Jina Kim
ICBM , Trump-Kim summit , US-ROK alliance , wartime operational control , Worker’s Party