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
Korea and the worst possible timing to negotiate with Trump
Timing is everything in diplomacy, and South Korea has found the worst possible timing to enter trade talks with the Trump administration. With the U.S. mid-tariff offensive and Trump’s desperate need for a public victory,
2025 04 21
Will South Korea get a worse deal than Japan?
As Seoul prepares to engage with Trump for his trademark “package deal” tariff negotiations, there is growing concern that Japan will ultimately walk away with a better deal.
2025 04 18
Japan’s one-theater proposal won’t fly in South Korea
Japan’s ambitious “One Theater” proposal—to integrate U.S. allies across East Asia into a single unified operational command—is generating buzz in Tokyo and cautious interest in Washington. But in Seoul, the response is far more skeptical. And for good reason.
2025 04 17
South Korea’s deeper democratic crisis lies in economic inequality
At first glance, South Korea’s democracy appears resilient. Martial law was imposed, swiftly overturned, and those responsible held to account. Protests were loud, legal, and effective.
2025 04 15
Koreans cautious about strategic flexibility
Washington under Biden, and now under Trump, are placing increased emphasis on “strategic flexibility” - the ability to deploy U.S. forces based in Korea to respond to regional or global contingencies.
2025 04 12
China, Korea, Japan trilaterals
It’s at this point of time in a Trump Administration that every foreign policy analyst, everyone schooled under the conventions of liberal democratic international relations, wonders wtf is going on.
2025 04 10
South Korea’s coming chaebol turn to unification
In whispered conversations amidst executives behind the closed doors of corporate offices; amidst researchers at water fountains in strategy think tanks; and amidst political movers and shakers under the stained flaps of late-night soju tents; a new line of thinking on North Korea is gaining traction.
2025 04 08
When states start acting like businesses
The Trump Administration’s DOGE is a bull in the international relations China shop. It’s taken a wrecking ball to USAID, RFA, VOA, the Wilson Center and USIP - institutions of international relations that most of us grew up with and held to be inviolable.
2025 04 06
Yoon’s impeachment verdict - another circus passing through Seoul
As South Korea prepares for the Constitutional Court’s verdict on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment this Friday, an avalanche of special event podcasts and live-streams are well underway. Every dick and his dog man and his dog person and their dog has their own extra special angle gleaned from the hundreds of other commentary pieces piling up across the planet.
2025 04 02