[뉴스] ‘A return to the cold war’: Putin and Kim have joined forces as global delinquents

A quarter of a century ago, Vladimir Putin flew to Pyongyang to sign a “friendship treaty” with Kim Jong-il that helped revive Russia’s relations with North Korea without obliging the two sides to come to each other’s aid in case of a military attack.

[정치/군사] Korea: A New History of South and North

A major new history of North and South Korea, from the late nineteenth century to the present day “Cha and Pacheco Pardo have years of expertise in Korean international relations. . . . A crisp and balanced account.”—Christopher Harding, The Telegraph Korea has a long, riveting history—it is also a divided nation. South Korea is a vibrant democracy, the tenth largest economy, and is home to a world-renowned...

[학술논문] Strategic Costs and Russia’s Shifting Calculus on Nuclear Assistance to North Korea

Is Russia likely to provide sensitive nuclear assistance to North Korea? Drawing on the strategic theory of nuclear proliferation, this article explains why Moscow withheld such assistance for four decades and why the structural conditions that underpinned that policy have now eroded. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union restrained North Korea’s nuclear program because proliferation would have undermined...

[학술논문] Korea–Japan Relations in 2025: The Solidification of Security Cooperation and the Fading of History

... to be a shared sense of vulnerability: in addition to the emergent authoritarian triangle of China, Russia, and North Korea, South Korea and Japan faced demands from their longstanding ally, the United States, to rearrange their economic and security arrangements to better accommodate American imperatives. Amid this heightened state of uncertainty and instability, the history issue faded somewhat...

[학술논문] Inter-Korean Relations in 2025: The Lee Administration's Pragmatic Recalibration after Yoon

...approach toward North Korea, his administration remained structurally constrained by alliance modernization, North Korea's hardened doctrine, and heightened great-power competition. The review surveys domestic political developments, the changing dynamics of the US–ROK alliance, trilateral security coordination, and relations with Russia and China in the context of inter-Korean relations. By situating...

[학술논문] China's Policy toward (South) Korea: Objectives of and Obstacles to the Strategic Partnership

This paper examines Korean
Chinese relations in the context of the framework of the strategic partnership that has been in place since the 1990s. The relationship was considered to share the same characteristics as those between China and Russia, China and India, China and Vietnam, and China and Pakistan*yet differed in terms of content and significance. Despite its strong non-alliance policy toward...

[학술논문] U.S. Northeast Asia Policy: Revitalizing Alliances and Preserving Peace on the Peninsula

...and the prospects and priorities for building a Northeast Asia security architecture. It focuses in particular on U.S. Korea policy (South and North) while also assessing the prospects for the currently ill-fated Six-Party Talks (involving North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the U.S.), discussing how this Korean Peninsula denuclearization process both informs and impacts U.S. attitudes...

[해외] Should Japan change its approach to North Korean denuclearization?

...challenges, including North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile programs, closer military ties between Russia and North Korea, and strengthening military relations between China and Russia. In particular, expanding Russia-North Korea military ties—potentially involving troop deployments and technology transfers—poses a complex security threat that could enhance North Korea’s conventional and strategic...

[해외] China is confronting new realities on the Korean Peninsula

... between Washington and Pyongyang. Multiple pressures and strategic issues have converged, including North Korea’s further consolidation of its nuclear status after the Ninth Party Congress, the further deepening of Russia-North Korea ties, intensifying U.S.-China competition, the growing institutionalization of U.S.-Japan-South Korean trilateral coordination, and the spillover effects of conflict...

[해외] North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons and Missile Programs

...imposed sanctions and called on North Korea to eliminate its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible manner." Since 2022, Russian and Chinese policies toward North Korea have shifted. The U.S. Forces Korea commander said in April 2025 that in return for North Korea's assistance in its war against Ukraine, "Russia is expanding sharing of space, nuclear...

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

...mindful of the relationship’s limits. Given historical volatility in Russia-DPRK relations and the contingent nature of wartime cooperation, Moscow is best understood as a situational partner rather than as a permanent ally. This recognition explains Pyongyang’s parallel effort to stabilize relations with Beijing. China remains North Korea’s most important economic lifeline and diplomatic buffer against...

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

...2030. In 2023, Russia deployed tactical nuclear weapons outside its borders for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Russian President Vladimir Putin amended the country’s nuclear doctrine in 2024, lowering Moscow’s threshold for nuclear use. North Korea is thought to have 50 nuclear weapons and enough fissile material for 50 more, and technical support from Russia is accelerating...