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The Korea Times

Entertainment & Arts

SCMP
Asia

The Korea Times

Opinion

Columnists

Lee Jong-eun

To restrain Japan, South Korea should embrace greater security partnership

Despite being allies of the United States, South Korea and Japan did not have a direct security partnership during the Cold War. During the Korean War, South Korean President Syngman Rhee threatened to shoot Japanese forces first if they arrived to “help” Korea from the communist invasion. Japan, officially a pacifist state with “self-defense forces,” also did not affirm its security commitment to the neighboring democracy. The two countries' animosities over past history and their reliance solely on U.S. security commitment were factors that limited bilateral security partnerships for decad...

2022-12-27 16:45

How US Republicans might influence US East Asian foreign policy after midterms

In the U.S. midterm elections this month, the Republicans were widely predicted to win a big victory. Pre-election forecasts suggested Republicans could take control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. The actual election results, however, were, overall, a mixed outcome. While Republicans appear to have taken narrow control of the House of Representatives, their margin of the majority appears to be far smaller than expected.

2022-11-21 13:51

How NK's crossing of 'orange line' challenges U.S. 'red line'

Last week, North Korea fired an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan in what it claims to be part of “tactical nuclear drills.” The missile was reportedly a version of the Hwasong-12, similar to the North's missile fired in 2017. The missile flew 4,600 kilometers, flying briefly over the northern prefectures of Japan before falling eventually into the Pacific Ocean to the east of Japan.

2022-10-11 14:57

For Russia, China is neither a 'big bad wolf' nor a 'fairy godmother'

This month, while the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit was being held, the Global Times, an English-language Chinese newspaper, published an op-ed describing Russia-China relations. The op-ed dismissed predictions of Russia being devoured by the “big bad wolf” and hopes of the country being rescued by the “fairy godmother” as both fairy tale fantasies.

2022-09-28 17:59

International stability sometimes requires foreign policy ambiguities and contradictions

In international relations, political actors' ambiguous, inconsistent behaviors are frequent subjects of debates and controversies. To some critics, U.S. President Joe Biden's recent Saudi Arabia visit to request the latter's cooperation in the global energy market contradicted his administration's pledge to counter autocracy and advocate human rights as core foreign policy values.

2022-08-28 16:56

Which side does time favor in a geopolitical conflict?

In 1947, in the early days of the Cold War, U.S. diplomat George Kennan wrote a policy document proposing recommendations for a U.S. Cold War strategy. Kennan articulated that a long-term, patient “containment” against Soviet expansion would force the Soviet Union eventually to “break up” or “gradually mellow.” Kennan's proposals became the basis for the U.S. containment strategy, and the eventual break-up of the USSR bolstered confidence in the West that “time is on our side.”

2022-07-27 16:12

Liberal world order faces old dilemma: To share or to divide world

This month marks the Korean War's 72nd anniversary, a key defining event in the Cold War. Years ago, when I first read, “The Origins of the Korean War” written by U.S. historian Bruce Cumings, I was intrigued by his comparisons of U.S. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

2022-06-28 17:00

Biden's Taiwan comments reveal US strategic dilemma in East Asia

Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden visited East Asia, holding a series of summits with the leaders of South Korea, Japan and the member states of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). The summits addressed multiple agendas, one of which was approaches toward China. Is the U.S. alliance in the Indo-Pacific committed only to defending the existing regional order? Or does the alliance also seek a revision of the geopolitical status quo?

2022-06-07 16:21

Yoon's inaugural speech on freedom and anti-intellectualism

As South Korea often looks to the U.S. as a political model, it is common for South Korean political conservatives to seek policy lessons from their U.S. counterparts. Inspired by the economic policies of U.S. conservatives, a growing number of South Korean conservative policymakers have advocated for “pro-market” policies such as business deregulation and a flexible labor market.

2022-05-17 16:55

Paradox of South Korean politics: One-sided pragmatism in foreign policy

For South Korea, the two neighboring countries often described as “close, yet distant” are North Korea and Japan. Despite sharing a common ethnicity and heritage, the ideological differences and the legacy of the Korean War have stood as barriers between the two Koreas, with many in South Korea viewing the North even today as a “jujeok,” a primary enemy.

2022-05-04 16:33

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