South Korea
With Biden’s lukewarm diplomacy, North Korea runs hot and cold
North Korea is again following its old playbook, alternating between extending an olive branch or thorns, diplomacy or missile tests, all with the aim to extract concessions from…
North Korea’s calculated restraint
September is an important month for South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in to make a last ditch attempt to revive relations with a recalcitrant North Korea before the presidential…
Small hints of a bigger opportunity in Australia-South Korea ties
In Australia, over the last few weeks, international headlines have focused on the United States, between the problematic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the 70th anniversary of the…
North Korea calling
Despite protests from North Korea, this week the United States and South Korea kicked off their annual joint military exercise. Korea watchers are worried that the decision to…
Moon’s last, best chance after Biden summit
US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held their first in-person summit in Washington last month, signing a lengthy joint statement that underscored the…
South Korea’s green goals
Last year, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in launched a climate-change policy branded as a “Green New Deal” as part of a wider stimulus package for the country’s pandemic…
“Flexible” is the new North Korea policy buzzword
South Korean President Moon Jae-in received a boost in his outreach to North Korea last week after talks with US President Joe Biden. Biden announced he would be open to a summit…
Biden’s North Korea review is a diplomatic victory for Moon Jae-in
US President Joe Biden will later this month hold his first face-to-face meeting as president with his South Korean counterpart, President Moon Jae-in. In the lead-up to the 21…
South Korea on North Korea: Keep on keeping on
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in’s policy of engagement with North Korea copped a triple whammy in the past two weeks.
After months of deliberation, the Joe Biden…
When a middle power is not caught in the middle
South Korea is set on a policy course that seeks to balance its economic relations with China and its security relations with the United States. Aiming for such a balance is…