DPRK Foreign Relations

North Korea’s Nuclear State Status: Seeking Legitimacy in the International Community

By | January 29, 2019

Leeds University PhD student Yujin Lim, previously of the Brussels-based European Institute for Asian Studies, describes some of the deterrence theory and IR apparatus around North Korea’s quest for nuclear legitimacy.

The Korean Peninsula and Great Power Geopolitics: Then and Now

By | November 05, 2018

Anthony Rinna returns with a look at how the history of international relations in late 19th and early 20th Northeast Asia can help inform us of the possible future trajectory of Beijing-Moscow ties.

China and Russia on a Nuclear North Korea: Policy Alignment, Divergent Relationships

By | September 12, 2018

What is the state of Sino-DPRK and Russia-DPRK relations? A quick glance might led one to think there is total Chinese and Russian policy convergence vis-a-vis Korea, but the evidence indicates significant differences in how Moscow and Beijing see the DPRK. Anthony Rinna explains.

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.

Responsibility Theory: Russian and US Policy Analysis of China’s Role in the Korea Crisis

By | August 03, 2018

Anthony Rinna considers how the Kremlin and Washington differ in their views on China’s role in the Korea crisis by looking at Russian and American think tank research.