Prolonged setback on NK While the rival political parties are rushing frantically to prepare for the general elections for the National Assembly slated for April, undertaking competing reforms and outpouring innovative policy platforms, including more proactive approaches..
New US defense strategt The new U.S. defense strategy, as unveiled by President Barack Obama on Jan. 5 at the Pentagon briefing room, projects a leaner military that is ``agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats with less spending and fe..
Kim Jong-uns North Korea The year 2011 was better than 2010 in terms of security and stability on the Korean Peninsula. We somehow avoided renewed provocations by the North that many had predicted would follow in the wake of last years sinking of a South Korean Navy ship..
South should do more to mend ties with North Kim Jong-ils death on Dec. 17 came as a total surprise because the North Korean leader appeared to have recovered from a stroke he suffered in August 2008. When he came back on the scene to attend a special session of the Supreme Peoples Assemb..
Sunshine Policy revisited Last Thursday I had an opportunity to revisit the Sunshine Policy when I chaired a peace conference at the Kim Dae-jung Library of Yonsei University to celebrate the 11th anniversary of President Kim Dae-jungs winning of the 2000 Nobel Peace Priz..
Brainstorming by progressives After the Grand National Party (GNP) railroaded the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) unilaterally through the National Assembly on November 22, without inviting opposition members to vote, the political aftermath continues. While there is no ..
Political clash over FTA When the initial version of the KORUS FTA was signed in 2007, it was hailed as a viable win-win trade policy to increase exports, induce investment, create jobs, and improve competitiveness in the increasingly interdependent global economy.
A harbinger of change for 2012 The election of Park Won-soon as the new mayor of Seoul projects significant ramifications for South Koreas future policy towards the United States and North Korea beyond 2012, as it will impact the two big elections next year that will vote in a..
Difficult resumption of talks For the past 20 years, the United States and South Korea have employed various strategies, including diplomatic engagement, intentional neglect, and coercive sanctions, to deal with North Korea, but without remarkable success.
The Seoul mayoral race No mayoral race for Seoul has drawn as much interest as the one scheduled for Oct. 26.
Conditions to six-party talks A second inter-Korean nuclear contact between South Korean nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac and North Korean vice foreign minister Lee Young-ho is scheduled for this week in Beijing.
Realism in N. Korea policy Domestic factors are one of the important sources of a states foreign policy according to Neoclassic Realism. Applied to South Koreas North Korea policy, the realist theory explains why the South has not been able to achieve the undisputed goal..
Fate of China-US relations American Vice President Joe Bidens visit to China last week provided a glimpse of a critical juncture in Sino-American relations, which, if not properly handled, may unravel the international economic order put in place under U.S. stewardship tha..
US-North Korea talks Although the U.S.-North Korea talks of July 28-29 in New York produced no substantive agreement or new information regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, the talks signaled Washingtons policy shift from waiting to dialogue.
Resumption of nuclear talks The Friday meeting of July 22 between South Korean nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lak and his North Korean counterpart Ri Young-ho in Bali, Indonesia, followed by an unofficial foreign ministerial contact of the two sides the next day, is a welcome developm..
Washington pushes Seoul After a long period of waiting and inaction, the United States is finally showing some dissatisfaction with the lack of progress in inter-Korean dialogue. Washington had set improvement of North-South relations as a precondition to the resumption o..
North Korea policy For all the debates and discussions during the last three years and a half since the start of the Lee Myung-bak government, it is still not clear how the President is trying to approach North Korea.
