[학술논문] The China-Russia-North Korea Triangle: Alignment or Axis?

... power. We find the China-Russia-North Korea triangle lacks cohesion and formal military commitments; distrust exists between China and the other two; and the combined military capabilities of China, Russia, and North Korea lag those of its main competitor, the US-South Korea-Japan trilateral partnership. The China-Russia-North Korea triangle is thus a loose alignment with significant internal divisions...

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

...inter-Korean diplomacy. The article demonstrates that while Lee pledged to pursue a pragmatic and de-escalatory 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...

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

South Korea-U.S. relations in 2025 continued to be influenced by the deepening conflict between China and the U.S. Xi Jinping's "New Era" policies drive inter-related military and economic threats to both South Korea and the U.S. Largely in reaction, Donald Trump has intensified his first-term effort both to confront China's threats and to use trade and other policies to re-industrialize the U.S. economy...

[학술논문] Lessons from Russia's Nuclear Forward‐Deployment to Belarus for the USA and South Korea

...two years, whereas the USA has not even engaged in discussions on a similar option for South Korea, which has faced an existential nuclear threat from North Korea. This article seeks to extract key insights from Belarus's experience and propose corresponding policy implications for the US–South Korea alliance. In particular, the USA must soberly assess whether the current North Korean nuclear threat...

[학술논문] ROK–U.S.–Japan “Operational” Security Cooperation for Responding to a Two-Front Crisis

In the context of intensifying U.S.–China strategic competition in the Indo–Pacific, the security of the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait are inextricably linked. A simultaneous two-front crisis in these subregions would pose a grave threat to regional stability, as China and North Korea could coordinate to exploit vulnerabilities in the United States and allied postures—triggering a “strategic...

[해외] Is North Korea Pursuing a “Juche-Oriented” Nuclear Triad?

...to start). Given North Korea’s differences in history, geography, and technology, Pyongyang is highly unlikely to develop a triad as balanced as those of the US and USSR/Russia, or even China. The bulk of the North’s intercontinental and theater strategic forces is very likely to remain deployed on road-mobile launchers, which are highly survivable once dispersed to the field. The Navy will probably...

[해외] Building a Robust U.S.-ROK Cyber Alliance

This report, Building a Robust U.S.-ROK Cyber Alliance: A Joint Cyber Resilience Strategy, examines how the United States and South Korea can strengthen bilateral cyber cooperation in response to an increasingly complex and transnational threat environment. As cyber operations from North Korea, China, and Russia grow in scale and sophistication, the report argues that existing approaches are insufficient...

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

...predecessors, the Sanae Takaichi administration recognizes that Japan is experiencing a deteriorating security environment in Northeast Asia amid shifts in the international order. Japan faces mounting security 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....

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

...East. The Washington Post columnist Max Boot has argued that the increasingly uncertain credibility of the U.S. nuclear umbrella should prompt South Korea to seek its own nuclear deterrent. Their conjecture is neither surprising nor unprecedented. In the 1970s, for example, South Korea tried unsuccessfully to develop a covert nuclear program in response to concerns about U.S. abandonment. And the security...

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

...diplomatic ties between the two countries have relieved some of the pressure that for decades has kept North Korea subordinate to China. Now, with more confidence in its conventional military and in a position to play two great-power patrons off each other, North Korea faces fewer constraints than ever before. And should Pyongyang choose aggression against its southern neighbor, the resulting war would...