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 :)

Yoon as a ‘window of opportunity’ in Australia-Korea relations?

If the Australia-Korea relationship is to grow to a level that can shoulder the highs and lows, and negate the need for “windows of opportunity,” there needs to be a serious rethink.

2022 04 11

Foreign policy and South Korea’s presidential elections

On both sides of politics in South Korea, Australia’s currently seen as little more than a mine, farm, beach, or a place to learn English – its relevance increasing only momentarily because of tighter resource markets and Australia’s increasing appetite for military hardware.

2022 02 23

Australia’s China blinders on Korea

Australia and South Korea need to first build a stronger shared narrative in order to understand what each other means by the term “strategic”.

2022 02 22

Australia’s relationship with South Korea

Australia and Korea signed a billion-dollar weapons contract, but it is only a very small step - there is much more to do to build the relationship.

2021 12 14

Time for South Korea to abandon the middle power moniker

For an author who was an early advocate for South Korea to fulfil its role as a middle power in international society, it’s hard to say - stop!

2021 11 19

Australia, Korea, and sixty years of benign neglect

The Australia - Korea bilateral relationship is successful but lacks the foundations upon which stronger relationships are built, including people-to-people, cultural and education links.

2021 11 01

Zooming out of digital diplomacy

The “essence” of diplomacy is not lost, it’s just frozen on a poor video connection. For diplomats, innovators, and students of diplomatic studies, it’s time to think beyond the video conference.

2021 10 12

Is North Korea expertise all talk?

Can you be an expert on a place without speaking the main language? In the case of North Korea, of course, that means Korean, and whether an analyst can read, write and speak Korean.

2021 05 21

When middle powers are caught in the middle

South Korea is set on a policy course that seeks to balance its economic relations with China and its security relations with the United States and this approach has attracted the Biden administration’s attention.

2021 03 22

Strengthening South Korea's voice

South Korea needs new strategies to avoid less creative, tried, and often failed, strategies that emphasise leadership summits and high-level bilateral engagement.

2021 01 19