Stuart Smallwood

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 the dormant Korean peace process. With plummeting approval ratings and embattled by scandal after scandal, … Continue reading “Was Yoon’s Martial Law Gambit an Unexpected Gift for Korean Peace?”

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. President Moon was on hand to celebrate the first delivery of the Lockheed Martin … Continue reading “Price of the Alliance: The F-35 Undermines Korean Peace, South Korea’s National Security”

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 of the US-South Korean alliance. This overreaction says much about the true role … Continue reading “The South Korea-Japan Intel Pact and America’s Destructive Role in East Asia”

"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 the highlights of a North Korean spokesperson’s ruthless response to … Continue reading “President Moon Loses the Trust of North Korea as Prospects for Peace Look Grim”

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 end its decades-long commitment to maximum pressure. Based on comments from an unidentified … Continue reading “Why North Korea May Relinquish Its Nukes”

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 of American media shills and military industry-funded pundits lashed out against it. Critics … Continue reading “Trump-Kim DMZ Meeting a Victory for Peace, Though Pompeo-Bolton Sabotage Looms Large”

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 "maximum pressure" – the threat of invading North Korea and economic sanctions … Continue reading “Post-Summit, South Korea Must Secure Sanctions Relief or Be Isolated From NK’s Economic Opening”

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 sanctions exemptions needed for carrying out North-South peace initiatives. The US’ … Continue reading “US Maximalist Stance on Denuclearization Holds Korean Peace Process Hostage”

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 faction hostile to North Korean diplomacy. Here’s how one South Korean outlet … Continue reading “South Koreans Reject Pro-War Old Guard as Moon’s Peace Party Wins Big in Local Elections”

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 so, they took a page out of an old bipartisan playbook for derailing diplomatic initiatives … Continue reading “Democrats Use Bipartisan Anti-Diplomacy Playbook, but Moon Has Changed the Game”