North Korea’s repressive regime, missile technology, and potential nuclear program create numerous security and economic problems for the U.S. and the countries of Northeast Asia.
How did North Korea rank in the Index of Economic Freedom? Click here to find out. Read More.
Other than a promise for augmented rotational training of U.S. Marine and air forces in Australia, the Administration has not articulated any permanent increased U.S. military forces in Asia. U.S. officials privately comment that those forces will be "globally sourced" and not redeployed from existing forces in Okinawa. Read More.
EDWIN J. FEULNER: I’m Ed Feulner. For the next 13 days, I am the president of The Heritage Foundation. I’m delighted to have with us this morning my successor as the new president of The Heritage Foundation, Senator Jim DeMint. Senator, we are very happy that you are able to join us this morning for our 16th annual B.C. Lee Lecture. It’s good to see so many friends here,…
As the confrontation with North Korea heated up, President Obama reversed course on one missile-defense decision, even as he proposed a defense budget that trimmed another half-billion dollars from the enterprise. This self-contradictory behavior on missile defense reflects the president’s ambivalence about a program that he doesn’t want, but knows he needs. As a…
When John Kerry was selected as U.S. Secretary of State, Korea watchers wondered which policy path he'd follow. Would he continue his predecessor Hillary Clinton's role as the backbone of the Obama administration, pushing for a firm policy toward the Kim regime? Or would he maintain his long-held advocacy for negotiations, even if it meant lowering the bar of Pyongyang's…
In late February 2013, Park Geun-hye was inaugurated as the 11th President of South Korea. Park’s ascent comes at a critical juncture in the Republic’s history: Facing several formidable challenges—rising regional security threats, economic uncertainty, and growing pressure to address domestic income disparities—South Korea needs strong and decisive political leadership.…
As Secretary of State John Kerry wings his way to Asia on his first trip there as our top diplomat, now is a good time to put North Korea’s dangerous game of belligerence, brinkmanship and blackmail into some much-needed perspective. Pyongyang has been threatening everything from another Korean War to a nuclear strike on US cities. It’s not likely going to do anything so…
Senior Research Fellow Bruce Klingner discusses North Korea on CNN's 'Situation Room'.…
In its latest effort to ratchet up tensions on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea may go ballistic — literally — as soon as tomorrow, possibly launching an intermediate-range “Musudan” missile from its east coast, according to press reports. The big question is: at who or what? The “good” news is that the range of the mobile Musudan missile isn’t well-suited for…
North Korea is easy to ridicule. The country is an anachronistic hangover from the Cold War, replete with cartoonish propaganda and over-the-top threats. Its leader could well play the villain in a James Bond or Austin Powers movie. Self-appointed ambassador Dennis Rodman’s visit affirmed the image of the reclusive regime as the ultimate reality show. As such, the…
There’s a reason rogue regimes such as North Korea try so hard to acquire nuclear capability. It empowers their conventional aggression by protecting them from reprisals that threaten to remove them from power. That’s because the civilized world knows that, if pushed too far, the regimes can use nuclear weapons against undefended targets. Even if the threat to launch is a…
Abstract The U.S. military force structure envisioned by the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review and the President’s FY 2012 budget request is inadequate to protect vital U.S. national interests. After the “procurement holiday” during the 1990s and the wear and tear of the “long war against terrorism” in Iraq and Afghanistan, all military services urgently need to…
Those who have not done so recently would benefit from studying what the United States Constitution says about the federal government’s responsibility to provide for the common defense. Most Americans had to memorize the preamble to the Constitution when they were children, so they are aware that one of the purposes of the document was to “provide for the common…
Abstract: The evidence is clear: North Korea is responsible for the torpedo attack that sank the South Korean naval frigate Cheonan. Now that North Korea’s culpability for this heinous act of aggression has been proven, South Korea and the United States must respond resolutely by imposing a comprehensive package of unilateral and multilateral actions. These sanctions…
Abstract: Greater military and political cooperation between South Korea and Japan would protect South Korean, Japanese, and U.S. national interests in Asia. The growing North Korean and Chinese security threats to the region have motivated South Korea and Japan to cooperate more, but historical animosities and recent diplomatic missteps have constrained bilateral…
Delivered on February 13, 2007 With the Six-Party Talks just concluding in Beijing, it certainly is a good time to discuss North Korea. We are fortunate indeed that, as always, the Institute for Corean-American Studies is focusing Washington's attention on a grave matter that concerns both Americans and America's friends in South Korea and Japan. When…
Perhaps no country is in the news more these days for troublemaking than North Korea. Run by a diminutive dictator, the Stalinist police state is adept at causing problems on--and beyond--the Korean peninsula. Indeed, from its large army and the proliferation of ballistic missiles to nuclear tests and the counterfeiting of American cash, reclusive North Korea is…
President Obama’s new defense strategy is long on rhetoric but bereft of details on how it will actually be implemented. The President boldly promised to maintain or augment U.S. military capabilities against a spectrum of global threats, but planned draconian defense cuts of $1 trillion would undermine the U.S.’s ability to achieve its national interests and defend…
The global financial crisis has had a major impact on perceptions of American power and its relationships in Asia. Many of the perceptions are not founded on facts. Among the facts often overlooked: American companies invest far more abroad than does all of Asia combined. For every dollar the U.S. has invested in China it has invested two in Australia…
North Korea routinely threatens to annihilate South Korea, the United States, and Japan. After its recent successful long-range missile and nuclear tests, Pyongyang now claims it already has the capability to target U.S. bases in the Pacific and the American homeland with nuclear weapons. As frightening as these warnings are, North Korea would more likely conduct…
North Korea has again openly defied the international community, first by launching a rocket in violation of United Nations resolutions and then threatening those that seek to punish—however meekly—the regime for its transgressions. Yet the United States and the U.N. remain reluctant to fully implement measures to make sanctions more effective. This policy timidity…
North Korea announced on December 1 that, between December 10 and 22, it would again attempt to launch a “civilian satellite.” The Unha-3 launch vehicle is the same as the Taepo Dong-2 (TD-2) intercontinental ballistic missile that North Korea previously test launched in 2006, 2009, and 2012. North Korea bragged in October that its missiles could “strike the U.S.…
North Korea’s dismissal of Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho, chief of the Korea People’s Army General Staff, suggests there has been more turmoil behind the curtain of power than observers had previously thought. Yet it is unclear whether Ri’s removal was due to a more secure Kim Jong-un feeling confident enough to purge even from the innermost circle to further consolidate his…
America’s Enduring Leadership in Asia America has been engaged in Asia since a few decades after securing its independence. Its early interest is documented in the 1833 Treaty on Amity and Commerce between the U.S. and the Kingdom of Siam Thailand), and later in the market-opening 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa with Japan. The U.S. has, in fact, been a “resident…
It is becoming increasingly clear that the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has transferred technology to North Korea and Iran that are prohibited by United Nations Security Council sanctions and U.S. law. These violations have spurred a State Department investigation and were raised at a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing on June 27. The…
A North Korean long-range ballistic missile launch into the Pacific Ocean, Russian threats of a preemptive strike against U.S. missile defenses in Europe, the Syrian regime’s continuing violence on protestors, and Taliban terrorist attacks in Afghanistan are just a few of the recent events that should serve to remind us that we are living in uncertain times…
President Obama’s aggressive response to legitimate questions about Benghazi at his news conference with British Prime...…
Transparency is not one of the Obama Administration’s greatest strengths. Walter Pincus of The Washington Post...…
This past Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met President Vladimir Putin of Russia in the Kremlin. Kerry...…
To lead the nation always under threat from North Korea, backbone is required. As the president of South Korea has...…
Cuts in President Obama’s fiscal year 2014 defense budget submission are troubling, according to Mike Rogers (R–AL),...…
South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in Washington on May 6 to meet with President Obama and affirm the...…
Amidst all the regional concerns about North Korea, the Senkaku dispute between China and Japan has continued to...…
Even as the U.S. withdraws from Iraq and Afghanistan, the world has certainly not become a safer place. North Korea...…
In a recent editorial piece in the Washington Examiner, Representatives Doug Lamborn (R–CO) and Trent Franks (R–AZ)...…
Last week, 16 House Republicans called for including as much as $250 million for the U.S. East Coast missile defense...…
Senior Fellow, National Security Affairs
Senior Research Fellow, Northeast Asia
Director, Asian Studies Center