Archive for April, 2012:

The Cruelest Month: Chinese Media Commentary on the Missile Launch Preparations

By | April 08, 2012

The Cruelest Month: Chinese Media Commentary on the Missile Launch Preparations by Adam Cathcart The New York Times, in a fascinating look at the outlook for another nuclear test in the DPRK, would have us believe that Xinhua was mainly obfuscating about the pending launch, but the truth is somewhat more complicated.  The following Chinese […]

Acuto, Strategic Distrust and the Pivot: Weekly Digest

By | April 07, 2012

When it comes to North Korea and Northeast Asian security issues, analysis spilling from the pens of Western academics tends to focus on American decision makers and United States grand strategy in the region.  In this weekly digest installment, SinoNK focuses on three recent publications that deal with, in in some form or another, a […]

Turmoil in the Inner Circle: Zhou Yongkang and North Korea

By | April 06, 2012

One of the working assumptions in looking at North Korea as it interacts with China is that the PRC, more or less, is wealthier, more powerful, more modern, and more open to the West — and thus better — than North Korea. But is it more stable?  Are questions about “regime stability” in northeast Asia […]

Parsing PRC and DPRK Foreign Ministry Statements on Satellite Launches

By | April 05, 2012

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Ministry/MFA/外交部) dominates a corner of the Chaoyang district; its grey girth looms not far at all from the DPRK Embassy. While the MFA is not the driving Chinese institution in relations with North Korea, it does play a key role in articulating China’s public concerns about the alliance; the […]

North Korea’s Cha-Cha Dance with the U.S.A

By | April 03, 2012

Jimin Lee is the SinoNK.com Analyst for Performing Arts. While Lee has already looked at North Korea’s cultural diplomacy with China and France, today Lee’s gaze turns toward a perennial enemy of the DPRK, the United States. – Charles Kraus, Managing Editor North Korea’s Cha-Cha Dance with the U.S.A by Jimin Lee The Washington Post […]