Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific
Author: Stephen Costello
In March this year, US Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry chaired a hearing on US policy toward North Korea.
After testimony from government and NGO witnesses, Kerry observed, ‘Based on [widely differing testimonials], I get the sense that we are misinterpreting what our interests are, vis-à-vis [North Korea] and how they view us. And if we are, how useful are six party talks?’ Read more…
Author: Aidan Foster-Carter, Leeds University
After three and a half years of a hard line with nothing to show for it except worsened inter-Korea relations, Lee Myung-bak is at long last executing a U-turn. Not openly and without fanfare of course; but the signs are clear.
In a speech in New York on 20 September, Lee sounded a note both old and new. As ever he stressed denuclearisation, but in a way which suggests this may no longer be a first step and precondition for progress. Read more…
Authors: Peter Hayes, RMIT and Chung-in Moon, Yonsei University
A declassified 1978 CIA report related to nuclear proliferation during the Park Chung-hee era shows that, far from making South Korea more secure, Park’s toying with the nuclear option made him an unpredictable and even dangerous client who needed restraint in the eyes of US policy makers.
The ROK’s nuclear ambitions, especially in the post-1975 period, resulted in the US threatening to rupture the security alliance if the ROK did not stop its nuclear intransigence. Read more…
Author: Aidan Foster-Carter, Leeds University
August found Kim Jong-il on the road again. Travelling only in his trademark armoured train, due to a fear of flying, restricts his choice of destinations considerably.
His previous three trips had all been to China, so it was time for a change. On August 20 Kim’s train crossed the border at Khasan into Russia. 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…
Author: Choi Kyung-soo, NKRI
The mining industry is one of the most important components of North Korea’s economy and minerals are its most important export commodity.
North Korea hosts sizeable deposits of more than 200 different minerals. Of those mineral resources identified, deposits of coal, iron ore, magnesite, gold ore, zinc ore, copper ore, limestone, molybdenite, and graphite are the largest and all have the potential for the development of large-scale mines. Read more…
Authors: Dong-Joon Park and Danielle Chubb, Pacific Forum CSIS, Honolulu
South Korea and Japan both consider the islands, known alternatively as Dokdo (Korea) and Takeshima (Japan), as part of their own respective territories.
The dispute over them has been a spoiler, on and off, over the course of their bilateral relationship. Read more…
Author: Ken Jimbo, Keio University
The sinking of the Cheonan and shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010 raised concerns for both the South Korean and US governments that North Korea may no longer be conventionally deterred.
The two governments have been reviewing how their basic and extended deterrence policies should be reorganised to adapt to this new dimension in North Korea’s behaviour. Read more…
Author: Aidan Foster-Carter, Leeds University
Pyongyang’s angry disclosure in early June of secret talks about a summit with Seoul, with accusations of bribes offered and threats to publish transcripts, marks a new nadir in inter-Korean ties.
North Korea has signalled unambiguously that it wants no further truck with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, increasingly a lame duck now that his term of office is two-thirds over.
Author: Byung Min, Griffith University
Following the 1997 financial crisis, corporate governance reforms and government-initiated corporate restructuring were implemented in Korea.
In the past, the internally appointed board members tended to act as rubber stamps and failed to monitor the actions of the controlling shareholders. Read more…
Author: David Fedman, Stanford University
Today marks the 61st anniversary of the first salvoes of the Korean War. As such, it is a fitting occasion for a candid assessment of the American position on the Korean Peninsula, and the ways in which the legacy of this conflict has shaped the current foreign policy landscape in Northeast Asia and beyond.
Author: David I. Steinberg, Georgetown University
The case of US sanctions against North Korea and Burma/Myanmar is an interesting anomaly among sanctions.
Of all the states in the world with which the US has problems, North Korea places first, whether in terms of its potential threat to the US and its allies, South Korea and Japan; attempted nuclear proliferation, nuclear weaponry and missiles; its human rights abuses and its extensive gulags; its isolation; its aggressive behaviour toward South Korea; etc. Read more…
Author: Scott A. Snyder, CFR
North Korea’s National Defense Commission recently released a rare public statement on inter-Korean relations in response to Lee Myung-Bak’s 9 May Berlin speech inviting Kim Jong Il to attend next year’s Nuclear Security Summit.
The statement came only days after Kim Jong Il’s return from last week’s visit to China where he met with PRC President Hu Jintao, and it responds to the 19 May revelation by South Korea’s Blue House spokesperson that secret contact had been made with North Korean counterparts in advance of Lee’s Berlin invitation. Read more…
Author: Peter M. Beck, CFR, Keio University
Korea-Japan relations have warmed considerably since President Lee Myung-bak took office, but new agreements have proven elusive.
After raising the idea with hundreds of Japanese, ranging from Diet members to Okinawa pineapple farmers, I have concluded that there is no time to waste for President Lee and Prime Minister Kan Naoto to pursue a formal alliance. Read more…
Author: Amy King, Oxford University
On 21–22 May, Japan hosted the Fourth China-Japan-South Korea Trilateral Summit.
As the first such meeting since the triple (earthquake-tsunami-nuclear) disaster in Japan, it was largely focused on disaster recovery efforts. Read more…