FROM STRATEGIC PATIENCE TO STRATEGIC UNCERTAINTY: Trump, North Korea, and South Korea’s New President

World Affairs ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 180 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-31
Author(s):  
Leif-Eric Easley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
Maximum Pressure ◽  
Window Of Opportunity ◽  
Strategic Uncertainty ◽  
Trump Administration

The Trump administration declared the Obama-era “strategic patience” toward North Korea a failure. As President Trump extols unpredictability as a virtue, the new U.S. policy of “maximum pressure and engagement” has become a factor of strategic uncertainty in Northeast Asia. However, the instrumental use of uncertainty has a narrow window of opportunity for frustrating North Korea’s nuclear missile development and raising international expectations for China holding Pyongyang accountable. This article considers the prospects of the United States in leveraging “all options on the table” while recognizing the contradictions in China’s role and in South Korea’s domestic politics.

Domestic politics, reputational sanctions, and international compliance

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong Hee Park ◽  
Kentaro Hirose
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Negotiations ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Reputational Concerns

The argument that reputational concerns promote compliance is at the center of the literature of international cooperation. In this paper, we study how reputational sanctions affect compliance when domestic parties carry their own reputations in international negotiations. We showed that the prospect of international cooperation varies a lot depending on who sits at the negotiation table, how partisan preferences for compliance are different, and how much international audiences discriminate between different types of noncompliance. We illustrate implications of our model using episodes from the negotiations between the United States and North Korea over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

The Evolving Inter-Korean Relationship and Regional Politics

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung-Joo Han
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Regional Politics ◽  
The World ◽  
Realistic Assessment ◽  
North And South

The historic June 2000 summit and subsequent exchanges between North and South Korea have added a new dimension to not only South-North Korean relations but also the situation in Northeast Asia as a whole. On one hand, the thawing South- North Korean relations has generated great optimism among those who see it as an irrefutable sign of North Korea's intention to join the rest of the world as a constructive player. At the other extreme, it is seen as a deceptive, if not desperate, act on the part of North Korea to reap economic gains and lower the guard of South Korea and its allies, principally the United States. Perhaps a more realistic assessment lies somewhere between these polar analyses.

Reluctant Reconciliation: South Korea's tentative détente with North Korea in the Nixon era, 1969–72

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-94
Author(s):  
CHOI LYONG
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Short Article ◽  
South Korean ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis article discusses the impact and implications of Sino-American reconciliation on South Korea's policy towards its conflict with North Korea as well as its effect on South Korean politics in the early 1970s. Specifically, this article will examine how the Park regime altered its policy toward the North in response to the demands of the Nixon administration, before discussing the limitations of the policy in terms of the hostile approach of the Park regime toward Pyongyang during its talks with North Korea in 1972.Based on recent findings in the South Korean and American archives, and an interview with former KCIA official Gang Indeok, this article contends that this particular focus provides an interesting case study to explain the impact of global changes on the domestic politics of specific nation(s) during the Cold War era. Along with many other American client states, the Republic of Korea misunderstood the objective of the United States before Nixon announced his Doctrine in 1969 and intention to reduce American support for Park. To be sure, it was not Washington's intention to build a democratic country in the Korean Peninsula. Rather, as Westad has indicated, the superpower sought greater control over the world and the expansion and extension of its power. This short article will thus demonstrate the process by which the client states of the United States—in particular, South Korea—came to understand the real aims of Washington and learned how to utilize these American intentions for their own national interest.

Japan and Stalin's Policy toward Northeast Asia after World War II

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wolff
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Military Alliance

This article begins by showing that Japan was central to Iosif Stalin's postwar policy in Northeast Asia. The article then examines how the emphasis on Japan led to actions in and with North Korea (and China), first to try to block and then to try to compensate for the separate peace and military alliance between the United States and Japan. The penultimate section recounts meetings between Stalin and leaders of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) in the spring and summer of 1951. The article concludes by explaining how Stalin's meetings with the JCP fit into his policies in Northeast Asia as they evolved largely in step with U.S.-Soviet relations.

scholarly journals STRATEGIC UNCERTAINTY: A NEW WAY OF U.S. DIPLOMACY TOWARDS THE QATAR CRISIS

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Wirautomo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The United States ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
The State ◽  
Strategic Uncertainty ◽  
White House ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Trump Administration ◽  
Gulf Arab

The way of U.S. diplomacy under President Trump administration declared a different approach from the Obama era. As President Trump extols unpredictability as a virtue, where Trump is more active through social media in conveying his views. That behavior considered a boomerang for U.S. diplomacy. Under President Trump’s administration, many of the state statement is contradicted with the White House. The uncertainty of U.S. diplomacy is seen when the United States involved in efforts to resolve the Qatar crisis. Qatar crisis is a diplomatic crisis that occurred between Qatar and the Gulf Arab countries which reached its peak in 2017. The United States has never interfered disputes between Qatar and the Gulf Arab countries that have occurred since 2002. However, the United States increased the tension of the Qatar crisis after several tweets from President Trump criticize Qatar funds terrorism in the Middle East. Simultaneously, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson corrected President Trump's statement by expressing the U.S. is supporting Qatar and trying to help by resolving the conflict as quickly as possible. Qatar is well known as the closest ally of the United States on combating terrorism in the Middle East. The disputes between Qatar and the Gulf Arab countries considered had an impact to be interrupting the movement of the United States on combating terrorism in the Middle East which directly affects several U.S. interests in the region. Differences between President Trump and the State Department do not send a clear nor unified message that is a problem for U.S. strategy towards the Qatar Crisis. It considered as proof of the uncertainty of U.S. diplomacy under President Trump administration. Through this analysis the article seeing the uncertainty of the U.S. diplomacy strategy in resolving the Qatar crisis

Three New fossil-species of Pteroceltis (Cannabaceae) from East Asia

Phytotaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 409 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
WILLIAM OKI WONG ◽  
DAVID L. DILCHER ◽  
KAZUHIKO UEMURA
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
Monotypic Genus ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Early Oligocene

Pteroceltis (Cannabaceae) is a monotypic genus endemic to China, and relatively little is known about its fossil record. Here, we describe three new fossil-species of Pteroceltis from the early Oligocene Hoengyeong Formation of Kungshim, North Korea and the Miocene Shanwang Formation of Shandong Province, eastern China. Pteroceltis kungshimensis comb. nov. and P. taoae sp. nov. from North Korea and China possess sub-orbicular, thin-stipitate, and bilaterally winged fruits, but the former is noticeably smaller in size. Pteroceltis shanwangensis sp. nov. from the Shanwang Formation is characterized by its ovate simple leaves bearing one order of teeth and brochidodromous secondary veins including an exposed basal pair. This study shows that Pteroceltis was distributed in China, North Korea, Germany and the United States during the Paleogene. It might have become regionally extinct in North America, Europe and Northeast Asia after the Oligocene and was gradually restricted to East Asia by the Miocene. China is a living museum for Pteroceltis.

The Nuclear Crisis on the Korean Peninsula: Avoiding the Road to Perdition

2003 ◽  
Vol 102 (663) ◽  
pp. 152-169
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Road ◽  
The North ◽  
Constructive Engagement ◽  
Nuclear Crisis

Confrontational United States policies toward North Korea, adopted unilaterally, would not only exacerbate the nuclear crisis but also undermine United States relations with Northeast Asia as a whole. … The United States would end up with the worst of both worlds: a nuclear-capable North Korea and severely strained relations with key powers important to United States interests globally as well as regionally. Conversely, by pursuing constructive engagement in concert with its friends and allies in the region, the United States would maximize the pressure on North Korea for an acceptable nuclear settlement and promote the long-term United States objective of liberalizing the North Korean system.

South Korea: Emerging Stronger from COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (01) ◽  
pp. 108-118
Author(s):  
Yongwook RYU
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Tech ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Advanced Economy ◽  
International Status ◽  
Economic Inequalities

South Korea’s management of the COVID-19 outbreak and its economic fallout has been largely effective. The challenges are procurement of vaccinations and addressing rising socio-economic inequalities. In addition, the Moon Jae-in administration has to stabilise domestic politics to achieve greater harmony in a highly polarised society and improve Korea’s relationships with the United States, China, Japan and North Korea, which have been stalled in one way or another. If managed well, Korea will emerge stronger from COVID-19 and consolidate its international status as a high-tech, advanced economy.

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