Young-seon Jeon, Professor of Konkuk University, argues that North Korea’s leadership perceives the younger generation, defined by attenuated loyalty and a faint sense of revolutionary consciousness, as a serious threat to regime stability. In response, the Kim Jong Un regime has elevated ideological and cultural indoctrination targeting youth as a core component of its broader “human remolding” campaign. Professor Jeon identifies three principal strategies employed in this effort: the institutionalization of a communist cultural worldview, the legal and systemic obstruction of foreign c...

Commentary

• Young-Sun JEON
• May 14, 2025

Seung-ho Jung, Professor of Incheon National University, contends that despite North Korea’s extensive provision of manpower and military materiel in support of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the resultant economic compensation has remained markedly limited. Professor Jung attributes the constraints impeding substantive economic cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow to three principal factors: poor logistical infrastructure, lack of complementarity in trade structure, and the Chinese government's tepid attitude. This dynamic, he argues, suggests that North Korea’s primary objective in deepe...

Commentary

• Seung-ho JUNG
• May 13, 2025

Kyung-young Chung, Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Hanyang University, defines the transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) from the U.S. to the ROK as an absolute necessity for Korean national survival. Chung underscores that the expeditious transition of OPCON would eliminate North Korea’s arrogance toward South Korea and provide the ROK military with independent deterrence and counter-offensive capabilities, establishing a direct path to genuine strategic autonomy. To institutionally support this, the author proposes establishing a national War Guidan...

Commentary

• Kyung-young CHUNG
• April 28, 2025