... breaking out of a seemingly hopeless dead-end
2018 started with a sensation in Asia – a “New Year’s gift,” if we are to use the words of Ri Son-Gwon, head of North Korea’s delegation at the inter-Korean talks held on January 9, 2018 in the South Korean segment of the demilitarized zone in Panmunjom.
In his traditional New Year’s speech, supreme leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un proposed that an inter-Korean dialogue be launched. The proposal was timed to the participation of North Korean ...
... Peninsula: while it is described formally as the ABM defense, in the regional context such actions not so much reduce but rather increase tensions. The presence of the ABM tempts North Korea to strike first and to try to evade a retaliation blow. Thus South Korea happened to be involved in the US–North Korean confrontation.
The probability that the North Korean problem would be resolved by force has grown. Through its chief executives, the US leadership clearly voices its position, which “does ...
... with a sense of unease.
China expected Trump to make decisive statements about the “North Korean dossier” and the growing trade deficit between the two countries, and would attempt to demonstrate that Washington today is a hard-line negotiator. South Korea was concerned Trump would denounce the United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement. Japan was worried the President of the United States would force them to enter negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement. Both Seoul and Tokyo feared ...
... the deepening economic and technological gap between the two Koreas. It was some 40 or 50 years ago that the top brass in Pyongyang were forced to come to the inevitable, albeit unpleasant conclusion, that a balance in terms of conventional arms with South Korea would be impossible to maintain in the long run. An asymmetric response to the ever-growing economic and technological superiority of the South, reinforced by the overwhelming military might of the United States, was needed. Their response ...
On October 10 Park Ro-Byug, South Korean Ambassador to Russia, visited Russian International Affairs Council. South Korean diplomat discussed the latest events around Korean Peninsula, possible actions of the U.S. towards Pyongyang, Russia’s role in crisis resolution, and the ...
...
On October 25, RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov met with Park Ro-Byug, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Russia.
The meeting covered the recent events regarding Korean peninsula, possible ways to resolve the current crisis, Russia’s and South Korea’s role in ensuring security and developing cooperation in Northeast Asia.
The parties also touched upon the results of Vladimir Putin’s and Jae-in Moon at Eastern Economic Forum held in Vladivostok on September, 6.
... consultations with Korea Foundation leadership, with program directors on Russian Studies from Hanyang University and Seoul National University. The meeting covered the following issues: opportunities for development of cooperation programs between Russian and South Korean specialists in international security and Asia-Pacific region development issues, aiming to elaborate joint proposals and recommendations for relevant line ministries and institutions of the two countries.
Preliminary concertations on pilot ...
... Policy Planning Bureau at Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the course of the meeting they discussed Russian and Korean approaches to resolve the crisis situation unfolding around the Korean peninsula, including possible areas for bilateral Russia-South Korea cooperation on security issues and activation of multilateral mechanisms for regional cooperation.
The parties also discussed prospects for further cooperation between think tanks and academic institutions of the two countries.
... security issues on the Korean Peninsula, opportunities for signing the Free Trade Zone Agreement between the Republic of Korea and the Eurasian Economic Union.
On August 29 Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General, had a meeting with (Park Ro-Byug, South Korean Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Russian Federation, and
Moon Sung-Ki, Director of the Korea Foundation Moscow Office.
The following issues were discussed in the course of the meeting: bilateral relations between Russia ...
... States, and China. What are the motives behind the key characters in this drama, which more often than not smacks of farce?
North Korea is driven by the basic instinct of survival in the face of actual and imaginary threats on the part of the U.S. and South Korea. The only way for Pyongyang to safeguard itself against its external enemies and preserve sovereignty is to have nuclear weapons.
Alexey Arbatov:
U.S. Nuclear Warheads' Scary Modernization
The U.S., for its part, is trying to prevent the ...
