Hyeongjung Park, Independent Researcher on North Korean Affairs, analyzes North Korea’s strategic culture to examine its “Two Hostile States” doctrine. By examining North Korea's fundamental reliance on hard realpolitik, Dr. Park provides a nuanced explanation of how Pyongyang strategically justifies aggressive military posturing as defensive measures as well as how the “Two Hostile States” doctrine functions as a “stonewalling” strategy that halts interactions with South Korea. The author warns against South Korea's potential misjudgments regarding North Korea’s "two hostile s...

Commentary

• Hyeongjung PARK
• August 01, 2025

Won Gon Park, Chair of EAI's North Korea Studies Center and Professor at Ewha Womans University, outlines how the Trump administration is creating a strategic linkage between economics and security—through tariffs, defense cost-sharing, and alliance restructuring—to contain China. In particular, Professor Park analyzes potential shifts in the ROK-U.S. alliance, including Koreanization of defense, early OPCON transfer, and expanded roles of U.S. Forces Korea. The author underscores the strategic choices Seoul must confront in navigating a more transactional alliance framework as the U.S. in...

Commentary

• Won Gon PARK
• July 18, 2025

Leif-Eric Easley, Professor at Ewha Womans University, examines the new Lee Jae Myung administration’s initial foreign policies and explains the calculation behind their continuity with the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Despite expectations that the progressive government would overturn the previous diplomatic initiatives, Professor Easley observes that the Lee administration is pragmatically limiting its scope of foreign policy change. According to him, this consistency is due to the new administration’s acknowledgement of the U.S.-ROK alliance’s strategic importance, the value of relat...

Commentary

• Leif-Eric EASLEY
• July 15, 2025