The Birth of a “New Iron Triangle”: International Reaction
According to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, cooperation between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo is “universal, fair, and aimed at achieving common benefits.” It was emphasized that the meeting made it possible to institutionalize and strengthen a system of comprehensive cooperation between the three countries. The President of South Korea is confident that strengthening interaction with the United States and Japan will contribute to the growth of South Korea’s influence in the international arena and expects that in the future this format “will become a regional…
The Birth of a “New Iron Triangle”: Analysis of the Main Summit Documents
Following the summit, two conceptual documents were adopted, called the “Camp David Principles” and the “Spirit of Camp David.” They overlap in many ways, with the first containing guidelines for trilateral cooperation and the second laying out their detailed vision for trilateral cooperation and a plan for its implementation. At their core, such documents aim to achieve consensus on policy issues and develop a single course so that “Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States are united in their goals and actions, creating their common potential.”…
The Birth of a “New Iron Triangle”: Expectations and Event Course
On 18 August 2023, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held a trilateral summit with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David, near Washington. The South Korean president visited Camp David for the first time since 2008, when it was first visited by former President Lee Myung-bak. The summit also marked the first full-fledged trilateral meeting after previous shorter encounters at regional and international gatherings. To date, the three countries have held 12 trilateral meetings, three of which were during the Yoon administration on the multilateral diplomatic…
Is the DPRK opening up to the world?
All walls fall eventually, and with the coronavirus decline, it also seems that the days of “self-isolation by the whole country” are coming to an end. Remember that North Korea implemented “emergency anti-epidemic measures” in May 2022 amid the “fever epidemic” and quarantined people at the border starting in early 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. North Korea’s leader declared victory against the virus in August 2022, following which rail freight trade resumed. According to Korean specialist and journalist Oleg Kiryanov, the DPRK’s coming discovery…
North Korean Satellite: Awaiting Its Third Attempt
Discussions that the DPRK’s attempt to launch a satellite will entail the rupture of the inter-Korean military agreement impel the author to remind the audience how the preparation process for this launch is going on. On May 31, North Korea launched its first military spy satellite, Malligyong-1, mounted on a new-type carrier rocket, Chollima-1. According to North Korean media, the rocket crashed into the Yellow Sea after the second stage engine malfunctioned. In July 2023, North Korean satellite debris was retrieved from the Yellow Sea, after which South Korean experts declared that…
What does it imply that the DPRK has closed several of its embassies?
Several embassies and consulates were closed by North Korea in late October and early November of 2023. On October 23, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the DPRK Chon Dong-hak “paid a farewell visit” to Yoweri Kaguta Museven, President of the Republic of Uganda, and on October 27, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Jo Pyong Chol of the DPRK paid a similar farewell visit to President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco of the Republic of Angola. North Korea reportedly closed its embassy in Spain on November 1…
Chinese Foreign Minister visits USA
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a visit to the United States from October 26 to October 28, 2023. His delegation had discussions with their American counterparts, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Additionally, President Biden and Wang Yi had a special guest meeting. This has grown to be an extremely significant occasion. Among other things, this indicates that the two superpowers intend to maintain bilateral channels of communication to express their respective opinions on issues pertaining to Beijing-Washington…
Are they martyrs or spies?
The Ministry of Reunification declared on November 2, 2023 that it chose to identify family members of South Korean nationals who had been detained in North Korea for a prolonged amount of time as Pyongyang abduction victims. Four family members living in the ROK will receive benefits ranging from 15 million to 20 million won ($11,000 to $15,000) per family. “For a substantial solution to the issue of detainees, abductees and prisoners of war (in North Korea), the government will cooperate with civic groups to continue to draw attention at home and abroad…
Japanese Prime Minister's recent tour in Southeast Asian nations
Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, conducted a second quick tour of the Southeast Asian sub-region from November 3 to November 5. Malaysia and the Philippines were the nations that were visited this time. Tokyo’s priority on fortifying its position in the sub-region as a whole was reaffirmed by the tour, even if specific bilateral concerns were discussed in each of these countries. Tokyo, for its part, views that as a crucial middle link in the larger “south-westward movement” of Japanese foreign policy, which has been noticed for a long time by the NEO…
US Shuts Down China’s Confucius Institutes
US authorities see them as “vehicles of the Chinese Communist Party’s global propaganda and malign influence.” The U.S. Government Accountability Office has put a big fly in the ointment of bilateral US-China relations ahead of the planned meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the November APEC summit in San Francisco. According to the agency, the number of Confucius Institutes operating in the United States and promoting Chinese language and culture has decreased significantly over the past four years, from 96 to 5. According to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office…
Lee Jae-myung’s ordeal: No arrest, but charges are filed
Prosecutors have reportedly prepared more than 1,600 pages of documents to support their criminal allegations that Lee should be arrested. During the voting in the National Assembly on Lee’s detention, Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon stated: “The case involving Lee is an orchestrated crime involving multiple individuals and has raised significant concerns about the potential for evidence tampering through coercion or pressure on accomplices and witnesses, given Lee’s political status and the investigation process.” The minister claimed that Lee Jae-myung and his group forced government officials…
The peculiarities of tourism in North Korea
The Russian audience was very surprised when, during a visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at a press conference that he would recommend Russian citizens to rest in the DPRK. They wondered what there was to see in North Korea other than statues of leaders and wondered if there were beach holidays in North Korea, and, of course, recalled the sad stories of Park Wang-Ja and Otto Warmbier, pointing out the safety of travelling. In fact, there is something to see in North Korea not only for a person…