Diplomacy

Delegations Galore: Signs of a Continuing Rift in Sino-NK Relations

By | May 20, 2012

Delegations Galore: Signs of a Continuing Rift in Sino-NK Relations by Brian Gleason Although China and North Korea have maintained strong bilateral ties for decades, North Korea’s relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons, advanced missile systems and “satellite launches” has continued to take its toll on the relationship. In the aftermath of North Korea’s failed rocket […]

China’s “Soft Power” Goes Global: Li Keqiang, S.B. Cohen, and North Korea

By | May 15, 2012

China’s “Soft Power” Goes Global: Li Keqiang, S.B. Cohen, and North Korea by Adam Cathcart Much attention has been paid, and rightly so, to the “Korea wave” (韩流) and its impacts on North Korean culture. But what about China’s efforts at “soft power” expansion? How, if at all, are these perceived in the DPRK? And […]

Stable Transition or Fumbling Majesty? : When Kim Jong Un Met the Chinese VP

By | May 14, 2012

SinoNK.com, in collaboration with NK Leadership Watch, is currently concluding a major investigation of North Korea’s relations with China in the last two months of Kim Jong Il’s life.  This process will culminate with the release of a substantial database and analysis, which we are including as third in a series of China-North Korea Dossiers. […]

Upstaging Dystopia: Adam Johnson and Suk-Young Kim on North Korea’s Performance Culture

By | May 08, 2012

Along with some fine displays of military bravura and a notable speech by the new North Korean leader-commissar (before he retired to enjoy a smoke), April was a month during which foreigners shone their bright talents as entertainers for the Pyongyang elite.  Now those musicians and jugglers and PLA singers (no true jesters were allowed, […]

Strategic Divergence: Different Countries, Differing Views

By | May 04, 2012

Although it may be too early to tell, it seems that a strategic divergence may be developing between Washington and Seoul as a result of domestic politics and frustration over failed diplomacy.  A nascent surge in populism in South Korean politics and indications of a hawkish shift in American foreign policy towards the peninsula suggest […]