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 :)

Supercharged phishing and the North Korea Watcher

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has changed the rules of phishing. It no longer relies on clumsy English or poorly spoofed addresses. Today, it’s powered by large language models (LLMs), social graph mining, and contextual mimicry.

2025 05 05

North Korea Watchers are just different

Are North Korea Watchers just different? Or is there more to their distinct proclivities? We’ve all felt it before. At least, anyone who’s spent more than their fair share of time amidst North Korea Watchers, has felt it before. A disturbingly acute sense that not all is quite right.

2025 05 04

South Korea’s nuclear energy industry secures ongoing support

Significance. South Korea’s nuclear power export sector stands at a critical juncture. Major candidates in the upcoming presidential race have now publicly committed to support its growth. The industry is poised for significant acceleration regardless of the electoral outcome.

2025 05 02

The narrowness of speculative fiction on Korea

For a country as geopolitically charged and historically complex as Korea, one might expect a rich tapestry of speculative fiction — alternate histories, emotional futurisms, surreal dystopias — flowing from English-language writers.

2025 05 01

An international Commission on the Korean Peninsula

For decades, diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula has been trapped in a rigid and repetitive cycle, largely shaped by the strategic interests of others. American security priorities, Chinese strategic concerns, Russian opportunism, and Japanese anxieties have each carved deep grooves into how the world thinks about Korea.

2025 04 29

Transactional diplomacy started in Seoul, not Washington

Trump just said out loud what had been true for seventy years: The alliance was always for sale. It was always a transaction. The challenge now is ensuring that it is a valuable transaction - and this is where Trump will fail.

2025 04 28

Storytelling in international relations

Policymakers want something simple. They want a story. One that tells them who’s good, who’s bad, what went wrong, and how to fix it. And they’re not wrong. Stories stick. Data doesn’t. Narrative wins. Every time.

2025 04 27

Trump tariff reversals a blow to American credibility in Korea

The Trump administration's decision to substantially reduce tariffs on Chinese imports marks a shift in what started out not as coherent trade policy but as macho bluster. That macho bluster became all but weak and sterile with China, but is still biting and bullying with South Korea.

2025 04 24

Tariffs and an anti-American turn in South Korea

Anti-American sentiment in South Korea has always lingered just beneath the surface — a low hum that occasionally roars to life when diplomatic friction exposes the asymmetries in the alliance.

2025 04 23

Is South Korea’s democracy stronger after Yoon?

South Korea’s democracy survived its most recent stress test. Martial law was declared, swiftly overturned by the National Assembly, the President impeached, and those responsible held to account.

2025 04 23