The years 2022 into 2024 has shown the importance of having sophisticated anti-air defence systems in the application of international policy. Attacks in Ukraine and in the Middle East, as well as possible future ballistic missile threats against South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan would often require a direct and immediate response to an attack. With […]
With recent rocket tests being conducted by North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – DPRK), it appears the regime of Kim Jung Un is pushing the bounds of sanctions and effectiveness of the negotiation process with the international community, including bilaterally with President Trump. Not only has it tested missiles (demonstrating a potential […]
On the 100th annual anniversary of the Koreas’ March 1st anti-colonial resistance movement, a North Korean underground resistance organization called Free Joseon (formally known as Cheollima Civil Defense [CCD]) declared the country’s provisional “government-in-exile” with their adamant self-determination to “dedicate themselves to abolish the ‘Great Evil.’” An anonymous young woman wearing Hanbok solemnly read aloud […]
The Summit Not too long ago, President Trump was promising “fire and fury”, while Kim Jong-Un was assuring a “super-mighty pre-emptive strike”. On June 12, 2018 as cameras flashed and hands shook, both leaders significantly changed their tune with flattery and promises. The Singapore Summit was indeed a historic moment, with North Korea’s promises of […]
“Oh Charlie Brownnnnn…” Year after year, Lucy tricks Charlie Brown to kick a football she inevitably pulls away. Each time it’s a new creative argument. Lucy promises the world and the temptation is so great that Charlie Brown overlooks history and everything else except kicking that ball. Drawn in, surely this time Lucy will hold […]
The US and North Korea are likely to attempt diplomacy for a few months, but impossible expectations and intentionally vague promises could frustrate both sides. If this causes the deal to fall through, bilateral tensions could boil over once again. On 29 April 2018, the world watched as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and […]
As you have probably heard. President Donald J. Trump has accepted an invitation to visit North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.* People who were genuinely worried that Trump was going to start a needless war with North Korea now seem to be nearly as worried that he is going to talk to them and inadvertently trigger […]
This year’s U.S.-ROK annual joint military drills kicked off on 1 April after a delay of two months caused by the astonishingly fast-forwarded bilateral thaws between the Koreas, U.S. and China. The first part of the drills, Foal Eagle, will involve a field training exercise of 11,500 U.S. and 290,000 ROK troops and the remaining […]
Whatever the impact of a new national security team, and whether or not President Trump actually meets with Kim Jong Un in the next few months, the fundamental problems with North Korea remain the same. Former U.S. negotiator Evans Revere notes that we have heard Kim’s line before. Still, the atmospherics around around the question are […]
Recently, the Trump Administration decided against nominating Victor D. Cha as Ambassador to South Korea due to his opposition to the “bloody nose” strategy against North Korea advocated by the White House. On the heels of this report, U.S. disarmament ambassador Robert Wood declared that North Korea stands only months away from the ability to […]
Canada is expected to bridge international efforts to upgrade the ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Kim Jung Un ’s deceitful brinkmanship into a more principled pacifying denuclearization discourse. On Jan. 16th, the U.S. and his ‘true north’ brother will co-host a foreign-minister-level meeting for the 16 United Nations command sending states plus South Korea, Japan, India, […]
President Donald J. Trump’s tweets are striking and unhelpful, but they do not explain the essence of the current strategic situation surrounding North Korea. The underlying dynamics are more deeply rooted than any one day’s headline, even if the current U.S. president has done more than his share to exacerbate the situation. In terms of […]
As part of the 69th anniversary of the Armed Forces Day in South Korea, special army soldiers staged a skills demonstration performance at the 2nd Fleet Parade Ground in Pyeongtaek. (The National/UAE) On October 1, China kicked off its celebration of the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic with a […]
It is easy to brush off North Korea’s behavior as irrational, but the fact that the Kim regime consolidated and has maintained power since 1948 says otherwise. If North Korea was truly an irrational actor, it would not have been able to survive this long. And to have maintained a three generation dictatorship while being […]
