Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific
Author: Moon Chung-in, Seoul
Nearly two weeks into South Korea’s new administration, the dark clouds of impeachment have cleared. President Moon Jae-in‘s inauguration speech was full of common sense, and genuinely communicated with the people. Read more…
Authors: He Fan, Peking University, and Xingjie Sun, Jilin University
China is increasingly expected to be the key player in disarming North Korea. In several media interviews and on Twitter, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his view that China holds sway over North Korea. The question is to what extent. Read more…
Author: Peter Van Ness, ANU
Kim Jong-un sees nuclear capability as almost his sole source of regime security and he is not going to give it up, no matter how strong the pressure. He is not stupid. Read more…
Author: Jieun Baek, Oxford University
As President Trump and President Xi prepared to meet in Mar-a-Lago, North Korea tested yet another missile, this time into the Sea of Japan. With the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defence system only weeks away from being fully deployed in South Korea, North Korea’s bombastic threats of nuclear tests are increasing in frequency and Trump continues to provocatively tweet that the United States will address North Korea’s nuclear threats with or without China. Read more…
Author: Tom Le, Pomona College
For all the tough talk about going it alone if China is ‘not going to solve the problem’, Trump’s approach to North Korea is remarkably similar to every other US administration’s strategy since North Korea acquired nuclear weapons. All options have always been on the table, Trump has just been blunter about it. The dilemma the international community faces is that all options are costly. Read more…
Author: Editors, East Asia Forum
Since North Korea declared its intention to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1993, the international community has worked overtime trying to denuclearise the isolated state.
Author: David C. Kang, University of Southern California
New president, same tough talk on North Korea. Although US President Trump claims to be upending the way business is done in Washington, he still has the same limited set of policy options for dealing with North Korea. For over half a century, those options have been a narrow band of economic sanctions, rhetorical name-calling, and threats that the United States and South Korea will retaliate if attacked. Read more…
