Korea, Dprk News & Analysis

Indonesia’s outreach to North Korea represents a classic middle-power play: carve out a niche as an honest broker, even if the broker occasionally makes uncomfortable allies.

The Nixon era not only offers ambiguous lessons, but practical guideposts for strengthening trilateral US-Japan-ROK security cooperation, made all the more relevant by growing concerns of a ‘dual contingency’ in Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula.

Indonesia and North Korea are rebuilding a modest rapport. Whether the two nations’ engagement expands to become a significant factor in regional security depends on Indonesia; but it wouldn’t be the first time that Jakarta surprised on the foreign policy front.

Two shared imperatives were evident in the recent Trump-Lee summit: the need to rebuild Ukraine and restart dialogue with North Korea. Yet neither can proceed until hostilities cease in eastern Europe.

The Falklands War was a reminder that alliances succeed or fail on the basis of political imagination and practical enablers, not just treaty text, and military planners must bear these lessons in mind when preparing for a Taiwan-Korea dual contingency in East Asia.

Lee Jae-myung’s presidency may not herald a radical shift in the China-South Korea relationship, but it does create space for repair and recalibration.

The incoming administration of President Lee Jae-myung can be expected to shift away from the West and strike a softer tone on China and Russia, with implications for South Korea’s role in the Ukraine war.

Making the ROK Navy fit for task in a conflict surrounding the Taiwan Strait requires a total strategic rethink, from core capabilities to asymmetric sea denial.

The launch of North Korea’s Choe Hyon destroyer reflects a broader modernization of the DPRK armed forces, with potential ramifications for regional security.

North Korea’s involvement in the Ukraine war affords a rare glimpse of the tactics, ideology, and equipment of one of the most secretive militaries on the planet.

The latest deepening in Russia-North Korea relations has the potential to reshuffle the security framework in the Asia-Pacific region.

Tit-for-tat balloon launches by North and South reinforce the general and ongoing deterioration of inter-Korean relations which has taken hold since the thaw of 2018.

2022 was a particularly hostile year as Pyongyang continued to test and develop its full range of missile technology. Don’t expect 2023 to be any different.

A desperate regime gives rise to hope and ultimately bitter disappointment, as the diplomatic cycle on the Korean Peninsula churns forward once again.

South Korea looks to build its own Iron Dome, former justice ministry official implicated in Moise assassination, and Chinese Belt and Road workers targeted in Pakistan.