Junotane

My name is Jeffrey Robertson, aka Junotane. On this site, I write on foreign policy, diplomacy and the Korean Peninsula.

As an advisory warning, it’s direct, no holds barred, cutting commentary from in-country. It may offend. There’s no government baloney, no corporate cream, and no thinktank spruiking. Just free-thinking insight - commentary, analysis and fiction.

From here you can head on over to read About Junotane, including subscriptions and contact details; or you can head straight to the Writing section where you will find Analysis, Commentary, and Fiction on the Korean Peninsula and the the region.

Thanks for visiting and remember: be thankful, be nice, and help people - life is short :)

Kazakhstan in the middle

Kazakhstan, a country too often unfairly treated as a punchline rather than a power, is treading a middle road – that of a middle power

2023 04 16

The South Korean nuclear threat

A South Korean decision to pursue nuclear weapons would substantially transform strategic outlooks across the region.

2023 04 11

Advice to a young North Korea watcher

After twenty-five years in government, academia and consultancy, with much of my time working on Korean Peninsula affairs, I’ve seen the best and worst North Korea Watchers.

2023 03 24

Future proof? South Korea’s Indo-Pacific strategy

Seoul’s Indo-Pacific Strategy has been broadly welcomed by a number of states, but making it future proof won’t be an easy task.

2023 01 08

The middle power’s last hurrah

The middle power term will still be used because it’s an easy label to throw about for politicians and journalists but academics should be held to a higher standard.

2022 11 27

Can South Korea be a nuclear middle power?

In the end, stopping South Korea from heading down the nuclear path requires less academic waffling, and more diplomacy.

2022 10 28

What to expect after a North Korean nuclear test

The Korean Peninsula is currently in a pattern of tit-for-tat provocation: short and long-range missile tests; combined training exercises; artillery live-fire exercises, and border area fighter jet sorties and would reach a new height with a nuclear test.

2022 10 24

South Korea’s nuclear debate

Twenty years ago, the United States had an opportunity to prevent North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and in twenty years’ time, nobody should look back and say the United States once had an opportunity to prevent South Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

2022 10 18

Australia-Korea relations are about commerce, not strategy

There’s an oft-repeated anecdote that circulates amongst the more cynically minded foreign policy analysts in Seoul – if you understand how to sell washing machines, you understand South Korea’s foreign policy.

2022 08 21

South Korea’s Yoon: Return of the prodigal son?

Australia, just like the US, needs to start paying much more attention to South Korea and its role in an uncertain strategic environment.

2022 04 27