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Tue, June 19, 2018 | 04:29

Opinion > Columnists > Lee Seong-hyon >

Trump's 'without-China' approach on North Korea

Donald Trump’s warning that he would deal with North Korea “with or without China’s help” may in fact have a chance to succeed as a viable new alternative. It reflects a judgement on China’s role on the matter and hints at shifting to a “plan B.” It is disempowering China from its “larger-than-role” stake on the international policy narrative on North Korea. Solving the North Korean conundrum with the U.S. initiative would mean sustaining U.S. leadership and enlarging U.S. interests in the region where the two major powers are increasingly more competing against each other. Trump did not spe...

Lee Seong-hyon | 2017-04-04 17:29

Why Moon is likely 'bad moon' for China

It appears THAAD is set to continue to be deployed in South Korea, despite China’s vociferous protests, economic retaliation, and state-mobilized “voluntary” boycotts of Korean products. Against the Chinese pressure and overbearing attitude that reminds Koreans of the old Chinese empire that had treated Korea as a vassal state, the anti-China sentiment in South Korea is rising, Seoul and Washington are expediting the THAAD deployment, and the Korea-U.S. alliance is strengthening. This all goes against Chinese strategic calculations. In addition, the likely next South Korean president is like...

Lee Seong-hyon | 2017-03-21 17:47

China's THAAD strategy

South Korea should buckle up for a long, arduous ride against China’s tidy incremental economic pressure to backpedal on THAAD. China will continue to ratchet up its “economic card” as the primary means to inject pain into South Korea’s economic bloodstream because it proved very effective in making other countries surrender. China won’t stop, much less pause, because it also believes that there is a real chance for South Korea’s next administration, likely under a progressive president, to reverse the decision. South Korea’s strategists should map out a plan in which its economy can sustain...

Lee Seong-hyon | 2017-03-07 17:15

US starts THAAD deployment in S. Korea

Understanding China's behavioral dynamics on N. Korea

When China makes a certain move on North Korea, by a rule of the thumb, it is not about North Korea. It is about the United States. Grasping and appreciating this psychology is important in engaging China. China announced that it would suspend coal imports from North Korea. Some immediate reaction interpreted it as China’s exasperation about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s killing of his erstwhile rival brother, Jong-nam, who had been under China’s protection. This interpretation gives immediate gratification to the media-sensationalized tragedy, but is likely to be a misplaced one.

Lee Seong-hyon | 2017-02-21 16:24

Kim Jong-nam had offer to lead N. Korea's government-in-exile

Xi's 'signal diplomacy' with Trump

There has been speculation that U.S. President Donald Trump has been ignoring Chinese Communist leader Xi Jinping. Since his inauguration two weeks ago, Trump has spoken with nearly 20 world leaders on the phone, including acting Korean President Hwang Kyo-ahn. He also spoke with Japan’s Shinzo Abe. Yet he has yet to speak with Xi, the leader of the world’s second largest economy. Xi sent a congratulatory message to Trump. Trump received it, but didn’t respond to it. In an apparent snub, Trump didn’t even return the friendly gesture by arranging a courtesy telephone call with Xi.

Lee Seong-hyon | 2017-02-07 16:12

China-N. Korea ties under Trump

With “Trump America” in place now, one of the areas that the East Asian geopolitical analysts pay attention to is how the Trump variable would enter into Sino-North Korea relations.

Lee Seong-hyon | 2017-01-24 16:21

Taiwan's public diplomacy

South Korea is a latecomer when it comes to public diplomacy. It can learn from Taiwan’s experience, especially its public diplomacy with the United States. It’s a fitting proposition because there is a view that South Korea, under Park Geun-hye, displayed the appearance of “tilting” towards China at the expense of the U.S., its major ally. Meanwhile, the recent phone conversation between U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen was hailed as a victory for Taiwan’s lobby. In fact, it can also be viewed as a victory for Taiwan’s public diplomacy that has had a rob...

Lee Seong-hyon | 2017-01-10 16:24

Chinese journalism 101: seeking truth, not fact

For outside observers, the Chinese media serves as the most common information platform that helps them understand China. Yet it also stands as an area where misunderstandings occur and inaccurate media reports are, surprisingly, common in Korea, due to the differences in the political and societal institutional canopy. Accordingly, there is a great need for research on the characteristics of the Chinese media within the Korean policy community so as to better understand China. Unfortunately, little attention has been paid, partly due to a lack of expertise on the Chinese media and the uniqu...

Lee Seong-hyon | 2016-12-27 16:57

Xi, Trump and South China Sea

The reason South Korea pays attention to the South China Sea issue is because the Korean Peninsula has had geopolitical experience of being influenced by U.S.-China relational whims. When U.S.-China relations deteriorate, the adjustment of Korean peninsula issues, including the thorny North Korea conundrum, tends to become more difficult. The South China Sea is the bellwether of Sino-U.S. relations.

Lee Seong-hyon | 2016-12-14 10:05

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Daily life in North Korea