Essays
Aura of Criminality: Perspectives of Empire in Japan’s East Asian Conquests, 1932-1945
In the second part of this series, Jessica Pitcher examines the relationship between Japanese imperial authorities in China and the practice of narcotics trafficking, which “weakened” the inhabitants of the occupied territories while filling government coffers in Manchukuo.
Narcotics, Smuggling and Sex: Perspectives of Empire in Japan’s East Asian Conquests, 1932-1945, Part One
Empires are often described in grand and abstract terms, but they are also an everyday phenomenon, where the authority of the colonizing state is impressed upon its subjects in myriad ways. Here, Jessica Pitcher examines the role of sex trafficking in the everyday conception of the Japanese empire in Korea.
Mirage of Peace: Trump, China, and Kim Jong-un
As the Biden administration mulls its approach to North Korea, we reconsider the Trump era “maximum pressure” policy within the context of Sino-North Korean relations.
North Korea and Coronavirus: International Relations and Local Data from Dandong
Adam Cathcart reads some local public health data point from Dandong, and in the process surveys the vaccination landscape faced by a highly reluctant North Korea.
The Manchurian Myth: History and Power in North Korea
As the smoke clears from Kaesong and succession talk swirls around Kim Yo-jong, Sino-NK revisits one of the key foundations of North Korean history education.
Six Hours to Midnight: GSOMIA and the US Indo-Pacific Strategy
South Korea’s narrowly-avoided decision to terminate GSOMIA underscores how the ROK’s defense priorities in Northeast Asia affect the US’s Indo-Pacific strategy as a whole.
Minority Affairs in the Xi Jinping Era: Hardened Cadre on the Periphery
What does the increasingly harsh tone of Chinese Communist Party’s policy toward ethnic minorities mean for Koreans in the northeast? Adam Cathcart looks at officials and the new Xi environment.
North Korea’s Nuclear State Status: Seeking Legitimacy in the International Community
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.
South Korea’s Resettlement of South Vietnamese War Refugees
Matthew VanVolkenburg explores many angles of an overlooked or forgotten episode in South Korea’s history: the resettlement of South Vietnamese war refugees.
