Kyung-young Chung, President of the Korea Unification International Working Group, evaluates catastrophic outcomes by exploring scenarios of both a North Korean nuclear preemptive strike and a U.S. preemptive attack against North Korea. The author warns that whichever side launches a preemptive strike, it will not end in a unilateral victory but will instead bring an irreversible disaster to the entire Korean Peninsula. Professor Chung urges the leaders of South Korea, North Korea, the United States, and China to declare non-aggression and sign a peace treaty to prevent such a catastrophe and ...

Commentary

• Kyung-young CHUNG
• April 02, 2026

Ho Ryung Lee, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, evaluates North Korea's 9th Party Congress, noting that Pyongyang has shifted to a "two hostile states" system that prioritizes regime survival and anti-South hostility over economic growth. The author analyzes that this strategic pivot aims to consolidate internal unity for establishing Kim Jong-un's absolute leadership and succession plan, effectively subordinating inter-Korean relations to its military buildup and escalating security threats. Dr. Lee suggests that to prevent North Korea's coercion and miscalcu...

Commentary

• Ho Ryung Lee
• March 25, 2026

Hyeong Jung Park, an independent researcher on North Korea, analyzes the broader structural context of North Korea's 9th Party Congress and its strategy for establishing a permanent hostile coexistence between the two Koreas. The author explains that North Korea's nuclear capabilities have evolved from a mere security measure into the core of its regime identity, structurally locking in a long-term hostile coexistence. Dr. Park argues out that the "hostile two-states" approach is a calculated strategy to conceal internal vulnerabilities by keeping tensions with South Korea deliberately high, s...

Commentary

• Hyeong Jung Park
• March 17, 2026