Foreign Affairs
Evil geniuses, stumbling fools, or something in between, we will attempt to divine the real motives behind Pyongyang’s foreign policy moves.
Behind the Scenes with Kim and Dmitry
The recent Russia-DPRK summit was both eventful and insightful regarding the devious multiple games being played behind the scenes of the Six Party Talks. At his summit with President Medvedev on August 24, 2011, Kim Jong Il agreed to resume the Six Party Talks without preconditions, and if the Talks take place, to then impose a moratorium on [...]
Who Doesn’t Like Russia-North Korean Rapprochement?
Observers from many countries have tried to analyze the breakthrough in relations between Moscow and Pyongyang that was reached at the August 24, 2011 summit. The Ulan-Ude meeting highlighted the commitment of both countries’ leaders to find a solution to the nuclear problem plaguing the Korean peninsula, and at the moment, the summit partners [...]
South Korea on the Fence: Nukes or No Nukes?
South Korea faces a critical decision: whether or not to go nuclear, a decision that has US defense and diplomatic elites on edge. Talk of a nuclear option was anathema in South Korea only a decade ago. Official expression of a desire for nuclear weapons development has, until now, been politically and diplomatically taboo. To date, South Korean [...]
Lee Myung Bak’s Nordpolitik: A U-turn in the Pipeline? (Part II)
So in case you wondered what T.S. Eliot was doing upfront in Part I of this article, the squalid take on all this continues below. It’s a gas, man But it was Russia and gas that clinched it. Take a look at KCNA—except readers in South Korea, because Lee’s benighted government doesn’t trust you to guffaw like the rest of [...]
Lee Myung Bak’s Nordpolitik: A U-turn in the Pipeline? (PART I)
The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason ~ T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral (1935) The poet’s words are haunting. But are they true? Lee Myung Bak may be about to find out. Margaret Thatcher used to boast: The lady’s not for turning. (Literary aside: This was a nod—not that Lady T [...]
Changing Lanes: The Russian Alternative
After a considerable cooling of relations with Pyongyang in the wake of North Korean missile and nuclear tests and provocations in 2009-2010, Russia is back in the game. Kim Jong Il’s visit to Russia after a 9-year hiatus was a manifestation of this, although at first, it may have seemed for many observers to have strange timing and doubtful [...]
