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.
The ROK-US Alliance and Great Power Tensions
Anthony Rinna looks at the future for Seoul in a challenging century: reliant on China for its economic wellbeing and the US for its security, the DPRK may end up being the least of its problems.
Small but Indispensable: South Korea as “Jungjaeja”
Does South Korea have much room to manoeuvre in the aftermath of the failed Hanoi talks? Yujin Lim looks at the small power as mediator.
North Korean Markets and the High Seas: A Review of Justin Hastings’ “A Most Enterprising Country”
Is North Korea ready to radically expand its interactions with the international trading system? According to one scholar, it already has.
The Mango Mousse Incident: the Flexible Nature of the Dokdo/Takeshima Conflict in Inter-Korean Engagements
Dokdo is a returning theme in North-South Korea relations, one that reveals the long-standing dance of attraction and repulsion between the two Koreas. In a new essay for Sino-NK, Ifang Bremer looks at the evidence.
Russia and Korean Security: The Views from Seoul and Tokyo
Anthony Rinna looks at how Seoul and Tokyo have been dealing with Russia in a world of neo-Cold War tensions between Moscow and Washington.
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.
North Korean Citizens in Changbai: Social Insurance, Residency Rights, and Chinese Informants
Local Chinese governments are making changes in the way they deal with some undocumented North Korean residents in their border communities. Adam Cathcart investigates.