Tuesday night, while the vast majority of South Koreans slept blissfully unaware, President Yoon Seok-yeol declared martial law. Though shocking, it was ultimately a hapless scheme that may end his political career and quite possibly lift the wet blanket smothering...
Price of the Alliance: The F-35 Undermines Korean Peace, South Korea’s National Security
South Korean President Moon Jae-in did something very unusual in early October for a leader who once deemed the Korean peace process among the highest priorities of his administration: He promoted the very fighter jets that North Korea says undermine diplomacy....
The South Korea-Japan Intel Pact and America’s Destructive Role in East Asia
The South Korean government’s decision to back out of an intelligence sharing pact with Japan last week inspired great distress and irrational concern from US politicians, pundits and the US-Korean think tank community. Some even declared it the beginning of the end...
President Moon Loses the Trust of North Korea as Prospects for Peace Look Grim
"His shameless talk of dialogue between the North and South [at a time like this] raises questions about his mental faculties… We have nothing to say to South Korean authorities and have no intention of sitting down with them again."* These are just some of...
Why North Korea May Relinquish Its Nukes
The assumption that North Korea will never give up its nuclear weapons, no matter the security guarantees or economic incentives, may finally be put to the test according to a report that the Trump administration is considering a groundbreaking diplomatic proposal to...
Trump-Kim DMZ Meeting a Victory for Peace, Though Pompeo-Bolton Sabotage Looms Large
President Donald Trump yanked the US-North Korean diplomatic process back onto the rails last week by meeting Chairman Kim Jong-un in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the Koreas. Tellingly, a strong majority of South Koreans approved of the meeting, while a cadre...
Post-Summit, South Korea Must Secure Sanctions Relief or Be Isolated From NK’s Economic Opening
News of another summit between the US and North Korean heads of state is surely encouraging for advocates of Korean peace. Hopes are high that North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un has an inkling the Trump administration will budge from its commitment to...
US Maximalist Stance on Denuclearization Holds Korean Peace Process Hostage
For the first time since the Singapore summit, a shadow of doubt has been cast over the Korean peace process. Its source is the United States’ unyielding demand for complete North Korean nuclear disarmament before ending the Korean War and prior to allowing the...
South Koreans Reject Pro-War Old Guard as Moon’s Peace Party Wins Big in Local Elections
When South Koreans went to the polls yesterday they registered their unambiguous backing for President Moon’s Democratic Party and the peace process that is a signature policy of his administration. In doing so, they also dealt a devastating blow to the country’s main...
Democrats Use Bipartisan Anti-Diplomacy Playbook, but Moon Has Changed the Game
With the Singapore summit fast approaching, leading Democratic Senators headed by Chuck Schumer went to battle against diplomacy, issuing a letter to President Trump on June 4th demanding an impossible set of preconditions for North Korean sanctions relief. In doing...