[Commentary]
Korea’s Constitutional Crisis and
North Korea Policy Cooperation with the U.S. |
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Ihn-hwi Park, Professor at Ewha Womans University, highlights the need for renewed presidential-level coordination between the U.S. and South Korea, as the North Korean issue now figures prominently in global security discourse. He contends that the ROK president’s pivotal influence over inter-Korean affairs, coupled with the Trump administration’s highly transactional diplomatic posture, necessitates sustained, trust-based communication between the two heads of state. Park advocates for the expedited reactivation of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) and urges South Korea to take a leading role in reestablishing direct dialogue once domestic political conditions permit.
* Also available for download in Korean. |
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[Commentary] Theories of China-North Korea Relations Applied to Geopolitics with Russia |
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Leif-Eric Easley, Professor at Ewha Womans University, draws upon established theories of China–North Korea relations to contextualize recent geopolitical developments in North Korea–Russia cooperation. He argues that Beijing perceives North Korea’s security as intrinsically linked to its own, and that any Chinese efforts to constrain Pyongyang’s rapprochement with Moscow may be either obscured or strategically limited. Nevertheless, Easley posits that the lack of mutual trust and institutionalization among the three states reduces their trilateralism to a merely transactional axis. He cautions against the so-called “reverse Kissinger” strategy—i.e., aligning with Russia to exert pressure on China—and instead advocates for a robust, value-based trilateral cooperation among the United States, the ROK, and Japan.
* Also available for download in Korean.
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[Video Commentary] The Substance of North Korea’s Nuclear Threat and ROK-U.S. Extended Deterrence |
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Won Gon Park, Chair of the North Korea Studies Center at EAI and Professor at Ewha Womans University, assesses the context and strategic implications of North Korea’s unveiling of a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine on March 8, 2025. Park evaluates the current deterrence capabilities of South Korea and the United States, concluding that while North Korea has pursued nuclear concealment, advancement, and stockpiling, the combined monitoring, reconnaissance, and interception systems of the US and South Korea can effectively neutralize these efforts. As such, North Korea’s declared posture of a preemptive nuclear strike is seen as implausible and, if attempted, would likely result in the collapse of Kim Jong Un’s regime. |
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