[뉴스] The most significant ambassador jobs in Trump’s second term

Donald Trump has announced two of the highest-profile ambassador jobs — but many of the most significant ones are still to come. While several foreign posts are important in any administration because the country is a close U.S. ally or a neighbor to an adversary, some ambassadorial jobs will take on heightened significance in Trump’s second term because of the incoming president’s existing relationship...

[뉴스] The ‘Axis of Evil’ Is Overhyped

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in July, longtime U.S. intelligence official John McLaughlin described the threat posed by China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia as “the distinguishing characteristic of our world right now.” McLaughlin, the former acting director of the CIA, warned that the United States’ adversaries had “formed a group” and were increasingly cooperating against Washington and its

[뉴스] North Korea demolishes symbolic unification arch, satellite imagery suggests

North Korea appears to have demolished a large monument in Pyongyang symbolizing hope for unification with South Korea, according to NK News analysis of satellite imagery, after leader Kim Jong Un ordered it be removed earlier this month.

[지리/관광] North Korea: What we know about the world's most isolated country (Paperback)

..."Arduous March." The analysis also extends outward, dissecting North Korea's formidable military, its destabilizing nuclear program, its sophisticated cyber warfare capabilities, and its fraught foreign relations with China, the United States, and its estranged sibling, South Korea. Ultimately, this work provides an indispensable guide to understanding the forces of change bubbling beneath the surface...

[정치/군사] 한국의 핵안보 프로젝트 2

...태세(Aligning Global Military Posture with U.S. interests)」라는 보고서가 기사화되었다. 이 보고서의 핵심은 대만 유사시 주한미군이 신속히 투입될 수 있어야 하며, 중국과 북한의 선제타격에 노출되지 않도록 주한미군을 감축해서 일본이나 괌으로 재배치해야 한다는 것이다. 그런데 보고서 작성자 중 한 명은 2월 25일 Foreign Affairs에 기고한 논문인 “대만 집착: 미국의 전략은 이길 수 없는 전쟁에 의존해서는 안 된다(The Taiwan Fixation: American Strategy Shouldn’t Hinge on an Unwinable War)”에서 제2의 애치슨 라인을 그려야 한다고 주장했다. 이렇게 미국이 북한과의 핵전쟁을 피하거나 대만 및 한국 방어에...

[정치/군사] The Sister: The extraordinary story of Kim Yo Jong, the most powerful woman in North Korea

...the world of the dangers posed by her state. But how did the youngest daughter of Dear Leader Kim Jong Il, his ‘sweet princess’, become the ruthless chief propagandist, internal administrator and foreign policymaker for her brother’s totalitarian regime? The Sister uncovers the truth about Kim Yo Jong, her close bond with Kim Jong Un and the lessons in manipulation they learned from their father....

[학술논문] Framing the self and the other : Ideological recontextualisation in North Korean English and Russian textbooks

This study examines how North Korean English and Russian textbooks function as instruments of ideological (re)framing in foreign language education. Using frame theory and qualitative discourse analysis, it analyses six middle-school textbooks (2000–2008). The English textbooks construct a binary between the ‘virtuous socialist self’ and the ‘corrupt capitalist other’, while the Russian textbooks...

[학술논문] 북한 조선어 교재에 나타난 교재별 어휘 특징의 차이에 관한 연구 -2010년대 이후 출간 교재를 중심으로-

his study examines differences in lexical characteristics across Korean language textbooks published in North Korea for foreign learners since the 2010s. Focusing on textbooks issued under the Kim Jong-un administration, textbook-specific lexical features are identified and how lexical selection reflects textbook type, learning stage, and target learners clarified. Term Frequency–Inverse Document...

[학술논문] From Scarcity to Style: Sartorial Hierarchy and Hybridity in Marketizing North Korea

...2000s to evaluate the impact of transnational/ transsystemic cultural influence in a state socialist context. Based on interviews with North Korean refugees, we examine how the increasing desire for foreign consumer goods such as clothing, including those from capitalist countries, affected the practice of socialist identity. The testimonies revealed a particular sartorial hierarchy and hybridity formed...

[학술논문] South Korea-United States Relations in 2025: Lee Adjusts to Trump as the U.S.-China Conflict Deepens

...China's threats and to use trade and other policies to re-industrialize the U.S. economy. South Koreans, after a period of foreign policy stasis under a series of acting, lame-duck presidents, elected Lee Jae-myung president in June. Lee, choosing a stability-oriented foreign policy agenda, struck a bargain with Trump that was surprisingly satisfactory for both sides. Korea committed to significant...

[학위논문] 북한 경수로와 핵비확산의 역설 : 1993년 핵협상의 정치-과학기술적 분석

...있다. 기존 연구들은 주로 국가 수준의 행위자들의 정치·전략적 접근에 머물고 있는 반면, 본 연구는 원자로·핵연료의 과학기술적 특성들(핵확산에 관한 양적·질적 지표와 기술적 장벽)이 국제 핵협상에서 ‘거래자산(tradable asset)’으로써 어떻게 전환되었는지 밝히고자 한다. 연구의 방법은 대한민국 외무부(외교부의 전신, Ministry of Foreign Affairs)의 ‘2급·3급 비밀(Secret·Confidential)’ 해제사료를 바탕으로 과학기술적(원자력공학) 정량·정성적 분석을 통한 혼합법이다. 미국·북한의 핵협상 과정과 관련국들(미국·한국·북한)의 반응을 1차 공식해제문서 등의 기록을 통해 재구성하였다. 이와 함께 원자로 노형(흑연감속로·경수로)과 핵연료(천연금속우라늄·농축우라늄)의 핵물리·공학적...

[해외] Paving the Way for Hostile Coexistence? What North Korea’s Constitutional Revisions Mean for Inter-Korean Ties

The text of North Korea’s (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; DPRK) latest constitution recently surfaced in South Korea, making it the first publicly available constitution since the September 2023 revision. A review of this law shows the country made changes across a broad range of areas, from Kim Jong Un’s state leadership to economic, social, and cultural policies. Most of them, if not all

[해외] Pyongyang’s diplomatic calculus in an unstable multipolar order

North Korea’s contemporary diplomatic posture cannot be understood solely through the lens of U.S. relations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Rather, Pyongyang’s foreign policy reflects a broader reassessment of the global order, the regional security environment, and its own position within what it increasingly perceives as an emerging multipolar order. This recalibration has...

[해외] Why Japan and South Korea Won’t Go Nuclear

...to cross the nuclear Rubicon. In 2023, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol mused that his country “could rapidly develop its own nuclear weapons” if the threat from North Korea continued to grow. Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul stated in February 2025 that nuclear armament was “not off the table.” Later that year, a comment by an unnamed senior government official advising Japanese Prime Minister Sanae...

[해외] Rethinking North Korea diplomacy

...Venezuela and its war in Iran have drawn the spotlight away from the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia for much of 2026. Although North Korea remains relatively low on the administration’s list of foreign policy priorities, Korea watchers continue to speculate about a possible meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, driven in part by Trump’s own expressed interest...

[해외] Kim’s Dangerous Liaisons: Russia, China, and the Growing North Korea Threat

When Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Pyongyang in June 2024, his first visit to North Korea in nearly a quarter century, the optics were striking. Russian flags and portraits of Putin adorned the capital, where he was treated to an elaborate welcome ceremony with a military honor guard and groups of balloon-toting children. But this was to be expected; such pageantry is a hallmark of North