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Lee Jong-eun

South Korea, US should not overreact to Russia-NK partnership

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, the Russia-North Korea partnership has visibly expanded. Already since last year, North Korea has been accused by Western intelligence agencies of supplying arms and munitions to Russia’s military operations. Russia, in return, has used its veto in the U.N. Security Council to protect North Korea from international resolutions imposing new sanctions against its multiple missile tests.

2023-10-30 16:30

Authoritarian countries have alliance problems also

In August, the leaders of the United States, South Korea and Japan held a historic trilateral summit at Camp David. In a joint statement, the three leaders pledged comprehensive cooperation over the economy, technology, missile defense and maintaining the status quo “in the waters of Asia-Pacific” against China’s “dangerous and aggressive behaviors.” After the summit, some policy experts, however, raised concerns about the sustainability of the trilateral partnership, observing the continued conflicts between Korea and Japan and the two countries’ anxiety over the future reliability of the U...

2023-10-10 16:30

Lessons from the Russia-Ukraine War for South Korea

Eighteen months ago, Europe experienced the first major conventional military conflict since WWII when Russia launched a so-called “special military operation” against Ukraine.

2023-09-04 16:43

Can ROK-US alliance and multilateral security framework co-exist?

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement and the subsequent signing of the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty. For the past seventy years, the ROK-U.S. alliance has been a critical framework for South Korea's security. But why did South Korea actively pursue a bilateral security pact rather than a multilateral alliance similar to NATO? To answer this question, it is helpful to briefly review South Korea's geopolitical calculations during the Korean War.

2023-07-31 16:30

Could South Korea play the role of knight on chessboard of international politics?

International politics has sometimes been described as that of a great chessboard. The description has been controversial due to its implicit assumption that weak states are like “pawns” used by the great powers to engage in strategic rivalry against each other.

2023-07-03 16:30

Mutual success of Yoon-Kishida partnership will contribute to lasting success of Korea-Japan ties

This year's spring has been a busy time of bilateral diplomacy between South Korea and Japan. In March, South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol visited Japan to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, marking the first bilateral summit in 12 years. The summit revived shuttle diplomacy between the two heads of state. In early May, Kishida visited South Korea for another summit and invited Korea's president again to Japan to participate in the G7 Summit later that month. During the G7 Summit, the two leaders visited a memorial in Hiroshima commemorating the Korean victims of the atomic bomb.

2023-06-05 16:30

Should South Korea play hard in geopolitical diplomacy?

Throughout its history, Korea has faced geopolitical challenges from regional neighbors. Korea's past rulers have struggled to protect the nation's sovereignty amid regional geopolitical conflicts.

2023-05-02 16:20

Could Japan propose “grand bargain” on past history, future security to South Korea?

Recently, foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan held a bilateral meeting while attending the Munich Security Conference. The foreign ministers discussed two topics. First, they condemned North Korea's latest conducting of an ICBM missile test. Second, the foreign ministers continued the bilateral negotiations on resolving the issue of compensation for the South Korean victims of wartime forced labor.

2023-02-27 16:45

West should critically evaluate strategies of Cold War

As the world begins 2023, the geopolitical situation around the world is not bright. In Europe, the Russia-Ukraine War has dragged on for nearly a year, while the prospects of an escalation are stoking international security anxieties. In East Asia, North Korea threatens to conduct a seventh nuclear test and perfect its ICBM capability to place the U.S. mainland in its crosshairs.

2023-01-30 16:50

To restrain Japan, South Korea should embrace greater security partnership

Despite being allies of the United States, South Korea and Japan did not have a direct security partnership during the Cold War. During the Korean War, South Korean President Syngman Rhee threatened to shoot Japanese forces first if they arrived to “help” Korea from the communist invasion. Japan, officially a pacifist state with “self-defense forces,” also did not affirm its security commitment to the neighboring democracy. The two countries' animosities over past history and their reliance solely on U.S. security commitment were factors that limited bilateral security partnerships for decad...

2022-12-27 16:45

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