Inter-Korean Relations

Small but Indispensable: South Korea as “Jungjaeja”

By | March 01, 2019

Does South Korea have much room to manoeuvre in the aftermath of the failed Hanoi talks? Yujin Lim looks at the small power as mediator.

The Mango Mousse Incident: the Flexible Nature of the Dokdo/Takeshima Conflict in Inter-Korean Engagements

By | February 19, 2019

Dokdo is a returning theme in North-South Korea relations, one that reveals the long-standing dance of attraction and repulsion between the two Koreas. In a new essay for Sino-NK, Ifang Bremer looks at the evidence.

Dual Perspective: Reading Thae Yong-ho

By | August 15, 2018

Thae Yong-ho’s memoir marks a bold attempt to push back the tide of South Korean public ambivalence toward North Korea, a sprawling 500-page narrative of his experiences in the DPRK diplomatic corps over twenty years and ending with his 2016 defection. Robert Lauler takes a look at this essential, if flawed, text.

The Road to Pyongyang II: Inter-Korean Summits and North Korean Media

By | April 21, 2018

In the second part of a series on Pyongyang’s domestic media coverage, Kyle Pope examines the portrayal of the chief actors involved in the high politics of summits: the leaders of the two Koreas.

Righter Than You Think: National Security Conservatism and Moon Jae-in

By and | April 03, 2018

Moon Jae-in’s policy toward the North is not the Sunshine Policy of his progressive forebears. Indeed, South Korean political culture leans conservative, especially regarding national security. Steven Denney and Christopher Green make the case.