Author: Alexander Vorontsov, Russian Academy of Sciences

The grand funeral ceremony for Kim Jong-il was completed earlier this month, and North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong-un, was officially sworn in.

The event clearly opened a new chapter in North Korea’s history. Read more…

Author: Alexander Vorontsov, RAS

The Ulan-Ude summit on 24 August 2011 highlighted Russia and North Korea’s commitment to overcoming the Korean Peninsula nuclear problem — and they must be credited with considerable success.

Kim Jong-il confirmed that North Korea is ready to return to the Six-Party Talks without any preconditions, and both leaders agreed to advance with the construction of a gas pipeline linking Russia and South Korea via North Korea. Read more…

Authors: Alexander Vorontsov and Oleg Revenko, Russian Academy of Sciences

Kim Jong-il’s recent visit to Russia and his brief meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev in Ulan-Ude continue to stir interest in political circles.

This was the North Korean leader’s first trip to Russia since 2002. Read more…

Authors: Alexander Vorontsov, Russian Academy of Sciences and Oleg Revenko

Despite Libya and North Korea’s geographical distance many analysts have drawn parallels and even forecast similar fates for their leaders.

The NATO intervention in Libya poses the following question: In the contemporary world can a small country conduct an independent foreign policy, regardless of the approval of the global ruling class, without running the risk of being punished for it? Read more…

Author: Alexander Vorontsov, Russian Academy of Sciences

During 2010, the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula played itself out in an intense, unchecked manner in the midst of worsening inter-Korean relations.

At the same time, the mechanisms for resolving, freezing and eventually eliminating its nuclear program were virtually inactive. This applies to both the bilateral formats and the main international tool designed to meet those goals, the six-party talks. Read more…