11 Dec 2024
Korean turmoil: What the North thinks looking South
A “main enemy” suffering disarray at home and ridicule from abroad, Pyongyang might suddenly warm to Yoon Suk-yeol…
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9 Dec 2024
Explaining North Korea’s silence amid South Korea’s political turmoil
Pyongyang has made plain that its attention is firmly elsewhere. -
21 Nov 2024
Cat-astrophe! What happens when dirty-minded North Koreans meet Iranian nuclear purrfidy
I spy an invisible cat. Two, in fact. -
21 Nov 2024
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19 Nov 2024
Why getting Pyongyang back to the negotiating table will be harder in Trump’s second term
The North Korea of 2025 is in a vastly different position to where it found itself in 2017. -
25 Oct 2024
As Russia struggles in Ukraine, North Korea benefits
Having found common cause under sanctions, Pyongyang and Moscow are forging new economic geography and with it pan-continental security dynamics. -
17 Oct 2024
North Korean troops in Russia: The first test of the Russia-North Korea alliance
Should the deployment be confirmed, history offers three ways to gauge the cohesion of Pyongyang’s ties to Moscow. -
24 Sep 2024
North Korea and its middle power friends
The latest Asia Power Index has Pyongyang pegged as Moscow’s best buddy…for now. -
23 Sep 2024
Power in Asia: Outliers and curiosities
Some findings of the latest Asia Power Index controvert conventional wisdom. -
16 Sep 2024
North Korean elite defectors on the rise?
South Korea must be careful not to politicise high-level defections from the North. -
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5 Jul 2024
Putin’s diplomacy roadshow in North Korea and Vietnam
Despite Moscow’s charm offensive, regional states are keeping their options open, and China remains the partner of choice. -
2 Jul 2024
Putin goes to Pyongyang: Should we be worried?
The renewed marriage of convenience between Russia and North Korea has global implications. -
2 Jul 2024
Pariah states and the Olympic Games
With the Paris Games only weeks away, the controversy around athletes from “rogue” countries is set to intensify. -
1 Jul 2024
With friends like these … Russia and North Korea partner up
Putin and Kim wanted to send a message of strength. But the world might have heard differently. -
28 Jun 2024
Putin in Asia: Setting a cat among the pigeons
Ever a pragmatist, the Russian leader’s calculated alignments are purely based on needs and interests. -
19 Jun 2024
Koreas policy: Sorting fact with fiction
You can’t understand a country without knowing the stories people like to invent. -
30 May 2024
With balloons in the sky, North Korea keeps its feet on the ground
Just mind not to step in the smelly message. -
13 May 2024
North Korea’s population problem
A demographic crisis is looming in the hermit kingdom and that has policy implications – foreign and domestic. -
30 Apr 2024
Trouble together: How North Korea sees its growing interests with Iran
Global isolation is building ties that bind. Better to engage and take away the incentive. -
28 Mar 2024
North Korea’s new threat: “Core central striking means”
Technological advancement is making nuclear disarmament goals even more difficult. -
6 Mar 2024
A summit between Japan and North Korea? About time
With Kim Jong-un extending an olive branch to Tokyo, high-level talks may be on the cards, but roadblocks remain. -
28 Feb 2024
Can South Korea become a global pivotal state?
With non-permanent member status on the UN Security Council, Seoul has a long list of goals to help make its mark. -
21 Feb 2024
Open for business: North Korea welcomes back visitors
Kim Jong-un has been on a charm offensive to rekindle trade and tourism links with friendly neighbours. -
31 Jan 2024
North Korea is not about to start a war
Threats, yes, because Kim Jong-un fears political contamination from the South more. -
29 Jan 2024
Open and shut: North Korea sends a message with its embassy network
Pyongyang is matching resources to its priorities. -
15 Jan 2024
A new year, same old story on the Korean Peninsula in 2024
Kim Jong-un’s recent rhetoric reflects the status quo more than a radical departure. -
3 Jan 2024
Why do we travel to unsettling places?
Whether the DMZ or sites of historic atrocities, place carries a connection to remind us of the precariousness of life. -
5 Dec 2023
Should Trump win, will Kim Jong-un pick up the phone?
Circumstances have greatly changed since the “bromance” that captivated the world. -
28 Nov 2023
The extra bad news behind the latest Korean break-down
Suspending the 2018 inter-Korean military accord not only fuels mistrust but shows neither side is looking for an off-ramp. -
27 Nov 2023
Russia-North Korea: Closer, but not too close
Gushing portrayals of a revived relationship should be treated with caution. -
6 Nov 2023
How vulnerable is South Korea to a “Hamas-style” attack from the North?
History makes Seoul’s concern understandable – but the best way to deter surprise is through engagement. -
25 Sep 2023
The historical roots of North Korea’s lucky break with Russia
Kim Jong-un can thank decisions taken by his grandfather decades ago for any weapons exports to Russia that may come about in the future. -
15 Sep 2023
North Korea undeterred – to Putin’s pleasure
Kim Jong-un sent a message in his summit with Vladimir Putin, not only about military cooperation but also regime survival. -
1 Sep 2023
Can North Korea play off Russia against China?
Pyongyang might have designs to take advantage of an increasingly desperate Moscow, but power rests with Beijing. -
23 Aug 2023
The curious tales of defectors to North Korea
Why would anyone choose to live in or return to a repressive hermit state? The answers are complex and include regret. -
17 Aug 2023
Bridging the divide: the significance of the US-South Korea-Japan trilateral
The Biden administration sees the upcoming summit as historic – China and North Korea may also, for different reasons. -
31 Jul 2023
“Solidarity with Russia”: North Korea cements an anti-US bloc
With friends like these, you can stand against the pressure of enemies. -
24 Jul 2023
Forget Washington, Pyongyang’s most important target has always been Beijing
Kim Jong-un’s charm offensive with Donald Trump may have yielded few results. Not so his efforts with Xi Jinping. -
20 Jun 2023
Build a wall: Kim Jong‑un’s social revolution
Taking its lead from the hermit state’s first leader, North Korea may be heading towards totalitarian rule. -
15 Jun 2023
It’s time for South Korea to refocus on multilateral diplomacy
A new national security strategy stresses values-based diplomacy, but that can’t be at the expense of talking to China. -
24 May 2023
North Korea/South Korea: Who’s threatening who?
The prospect of using nuclear weapons to coerce behaviour has limits. -
12 May 2023
My decade watching the Korean peninsula: the delicacy of peace
Lessons from starting out a career analysing one of the most dangerous flashpoints in global politics. -
4 Apr 2023
North Korea keeps building more powerful weapons, with no end in sight
Diplomacy is desperately needed to avoid an irreversible escalation in nuclear capability and the excuse to use it. -
24 Mar 2023
North Korea: The state versus the people
If the regime is sincere about alleviating the latest food crisis, why ban market sales of foodstuffs? -
14 Mar 2023
Japan and South Korea: a logical but uneasy alignment
Is a compensation deal to right colonial-era wrongs part of a strategic shift towards rapprochement? -
2 Mar 2023
North Korea remains a hermit even as food runs short
With a population cut off behind a border, Kim Jong-un sees ideology as the answer to warnings about empty plates. -
14 Feb 2023
Why North Korea is denying its involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine
Pyongyang appears to be a reluctant participant in Putin’s brutal offensive in Eastern Europe. -
9 Feb 2023
With caution and tact: How Asian countries voted on Ukraine at the UN
A resolution forces nations to show their hand. After Russia’s invasion, consistency has not been to everyone’s liking. -
18 Jan 2023
“If the problem becomes more serious”: South Korea talks going nuclear
The high stakes on Korean Peninsula have quickly become even more acute in 2023.