Program Related Publication Feeds

Succession and Stability in North Korea

mdumond — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

On January 8, Kim Jong Un celebrated his first birthday as the leader of North Korea. As the country moves further into a post-Kim Jong Il era, the world has begun to think about how to deal with Pyongyang's new leadership.

Challenges for Korean Unification Planning

jdunton — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

This conference report chronicles the progress of the CSIS–University of Southern California joint project on Korean unification. Now in its second year, the project’s primary purpose is to frame a discussion on the long-term tasks involved in the eventual unification of the Korean Peninsula.

The Death of the DPRK Leader

ecurran — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

North Korea’s state television Korean Central News Agency made an official announcement that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died at 8:30am on December 17. The announcement made two days after his death reported that he had died of a massive heart attack caused by stress and overwork while he was on a train for a field tour outside Pyongyang. He was 69 years old.

History and Asia

jdunton — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

History matters in international relations. At the inter-state level, history plays an important role in how a country relates to its neighboring countries or develops and manages its relationship with other countries.

Restart of U.S.-DPRK Negotiations

sherry — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The United States announced a return to dialogue with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The next meeting will take place in Geneva. This follows a first round of dialogue between the Obama administration and the DPRK in late July 2011 in New York City.

The U.S.-ROK Free Trade Agreement

ian — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

On October 12, the U.S. Congress approved free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. The House passed the Korea trade deal (KORUS) in a 278 to 151 vote. In the Senate, KORUS passed with 83 in favor and only 15 opposed.

Q1: What is the significance of the agreement for the United States?

The ROK-U.S. Joint Political and Military Response to North Korean Armed Provocations

jdunton — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

This report on the joint political and military response of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States to North Korean armed provocations is based on the knowledge, experience, and insight gained from the author’s career as a ROK military officer.

From Defense to Deterrence: The Core of Defense Reform Plan 307

sherry — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400

There is a great deal of interest in both the scholarly and policy communities with regard to the defense reform plans of the Republic of Korea (ROK). In no small part, this interest stems from concerns about how the ROK has sought to enhance its conventional deterrence capabilities in the aftermath of the 2010 armed provocations by the DPRK.

Returning to the Dance Floor North Korea: Why Now?

mdumond — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Unknown to most, the stage is now being set for a return to denuclearization negotiations with North Korea with Hillary Clinton’s announcement this weekend that DPRK Vice-Minister Kim Kye-gwan will be invited to New York this week to meet with U.S officials.

South Korea Wins Bid to Host 2018 Winter Olympics

ian — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0400

On July 6, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected the city of Pyeongchang in South Korea as the host city for the 2018 Olympics. The IOC decision, made in Durbin, South Africa, awarded South Korea the Winter Games over competitive bids from Munich, Germany, and Annecy, France.

Capacity and Resolve

jdunton — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The last decade has seen the United States involved in two wars, an ongoing worldwide struggle against terrorism, and more recently a severe economic recession. This period has exposed two great structural challenges facing the United States. First, in a globalized world, vectors of prosperity quickly become vectors of insecurity. And second, the center of gravity in world affairs is shifting to Asia.

Fundamental Realism: Korean Assessments of U.S. Power

ian — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Despite the global recession, Koreans will continue to have positive views of U.S. leadership, the resiliency of American hard and soft power, and an appreciation of the critical role the United States plays in the region, given the rise of China. Koreans will hold a nuanced understanding of some of the domestic constraints on U.S.

Global Forecast 2011

jdunton — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The New Cold War in Asia?

ian — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The most likely crisis that the next presidents of the United States, China, and South Korea will encounter at some point after they each take offi ce in 2012 will be North Korean instability. This could occur as a result of the death of the ailing leader Kim Jong-il and a failed succession attempt by his not yet 30-year-old son.

한반도 통일을 향한 접근

nanderson — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0400

CSIS 코리아체어와 남가주대학 한국학연구소가 공동 주관한 코리아 프로젝트 첫 번째 컨퍼런스의 기본구상은 한반도 통일에 수반될 장기 과제들에 대한 논의의 틀을 만드는 것이었다.

Testimony Before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs

mdumond — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Having worked on this issue in the White House and having studied it for decades, I can tell you North Korea policy truly is the land of lousy options. The choices are never between good and bad. They are always between bad and worse. Restarting food aid may sound like the same old story – rewarding bad behavior that will only elicit more bad behavior. The alternat

An Historical Perspective on the China-North Korea Border

mdumond — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The past few years have seen increasing attention – mostly critical – of China’s relations with North Korea. In both South Korea and the U.S., policymakers, scholars, and other observers believe that China should do more to make North Korea behave more responsibly and are quite critical when China avoids pressuring or criticizing North Korean behavior.

The U.S., China, and Preparing for North Korea's Demise

nanderson — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Much of the recent commentary on North Korea focuses on two dimensions. The first is the personal story line, depicting North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his heir apparent Kim Jong Eun as irrational dictators intent on playing brinksmanship with the West.

Transitional Justice in North Korea: Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities

nanderson — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Around the 1990s the international community eventually directed its attention to the atrocities in North Korea (NK: hereinafter) when the realities of these atrocities began to surface, piece by piece, from the live testimony of slave labor workers in Siberia, a former guard and survivors in the concentration camps, and numerous defectors hiding mostly across the Chinese and Russian borders.<

Environmental Issues of a Unified Korea

nanderson — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Considering the present tension between the two Koreas, manifested in the Cheonan-Ham incident, it might sound a little too soon to talk about the issues of a unified Korea. However, as we have seen in the German Unification case, the unification of the Korean Peninsula may come unexpectedly. If it does, the cost will be high.

The Year in Review: South Korea in 2010

nanderson — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500

From the sinking of the Cheonan, to North Korea’s disclosure of its clandestine uranium enrichment facility, to the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, a multitude of inter-Korean security crises this year raised a real possibility of war on the Peninsula.

Hu Jintao’s State Visit: China and the Korean Peninsula

ian — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500

On January 19, President Hu Jintao of China will arrive in Washington for his third visit since President Barack Obama’s inauguration. On the agenda will be discussion of a wide range of issues, including global trade imbalances, currency valuation, Iran’s nuclear program, global climate change, and most critically, North Korea.

중국의 부상에 따른 동북아지역 안보환경의 변화와 한국과 미국의 대응 전략

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0500

G2시대를 맞아 동북아지역 안보지형이 급변하면서 한반도를 둘러싼 새로운 안보전략 및 통일정책이 요구되고 있다.

China's Rise, the Changing Northeast Asian Security Environment, and the U.S.-ROK Strategic Response

nanderson — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0500

With the advent of the G2 era, the security dynamics of Northeast Asia have changed rapidly, and new security and North Korea policies are in demand. While this issue is fervently debated among policymakers and scholars, CSIS visiting fellow from the Republic of Korea (ROK) National Assembly, Mr. Ilkwon Kim, met with the CSIS Korea Chair Dr. Victor Cha for a special conversation. Below is Mr.

Approaching Korean Unification

jdunton — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0500

This interim conference report chronicles the progress of the CSIS–University of Southern California joint project on Korean unification. The project’s primary purpose is to frame a discussion on the long-term tasks involved in the eventual unification of the Korean Peninsula.

Iraq: Lessons Learned in the Context of Regime Change in North Korea