Politics

The defense chiefs from Japan, U.S. and South Korea met for the first time in two and a half years.  (Photo courtesy of Japan's Ministry of Defense)
Indo-Pacific

Japan, South Korea, U.S. to resume joint defense drills

Move comes after a flurry of North Korea missile launches

12 June 2022
North Korea has been developing the Hwasong-17, an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting any target in mainland U.S. (KCNA via Kyodo)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea missile tests cost 2% of GDP already this year: report

Pyongyang conducts record number of test launches with 33 rockets fired

11 June 2022
From left to right, Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Closer ties with both Beijing and Moscow in the wake of the Ukraine war mean Kim faces a delicate balancing act. (Source photos by Kyodo, KCNA/Kyodo, Kremlin/Reuters and Xinhua/AP)
Comment

North Korea's shift closer to China and Russia comes at hefty cost

Using war in Ukraine for diplomacy could be double-edged sword

6 June 2022
Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighters train with an American B-52 bomber in July 2018. B-52s play a role in extending the U.S. nuclear deterrent. (Photo courtesy of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force)
1 June 2022
A military parade in Pyongyang in April, featuring a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile. (Korea Media via Kyodo)
26 May 2022
A teacher checks the temperature of a student in Pyongyang last year. North Korea had not acknowledged any COVID-19 cases until this month.
Comment

North Korea jolted by huge and abrupt COVID outbreak

Infection wave could threaten Kim Jong Un's ill-prepared government

21 May 2022
A perfect storm of political unrest, climate change and disruptions brought on by the war in Ukraine is pushing food security in Asia to crisis point. In Indonesia (pictured), shortages of cooking oil prompted a blanket ban on palm oil exports in late April. 
The Big Story

Asia's food crisis: Ukraine war triggers chain reaction of shortages

Deadly combination of conflict, misgovernance and climate change threatens widespread hunger

18 May 2022
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a pharmacy in Pyongyang on Sunday.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea turns to China for help as COVID cases explode

Pyongyang likely to think hard before accepting vaccines from abroad

17 May 2022
North Korea has announced an "explosive" COVID-19 outbreak, reversing an earlier assertion that the country had no cases. (Photo by Kyodo)
Coronavirus

Reversing COVID-free claim, North Korea reports 'explosive' outbreak

Pyongyang sounds out potential for help from abroad, with as many as 187,800 isolated

14 May 2022
Western sanctions targeting everything from Russia's banks to the nation's key energy sector could push President Vladimir Putin ever closer to Beijing. (Source photos by AP) 
Comment

Russia's potential subordination to China poses threat

Worries mount that Moscow could grow more moody, provocative

11 May 2022
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has an unusually high 45% approval rating in the last days of his term.
Politics

Moon to leave office with progressive fans and thin track record

South Korean leader sparks controversy by reining in prosecutors before exit

6 May 2022
Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference in Moscow on Feb. 1: The outward-facing rhetoric will be moderate, and many observers will interpret it as a theatrical way for the state to seek reasonable ends.
Opinion

We should listen to dictators when they tell us their plans

Autocrats who preach irredentism usually follow words with actions

6 May 2022
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Pyongyang in June 2019. The Kim regime would never forget China's outrage after it conducted its sixth nuclear test in September 2017.
Comment

A seventh North Korean nuclear test would carry 'China risk'

Breaking moratorium could bring decisive confrontation with essential ally

23 April 2022
Maxar satellite imagery of North Korea's nuclear testing site at Punggye-ri.
N Korea at crossroads

Satellite images show North Korea's path back to nuclear testing

Tunnel work and construction point to restoration of Punggye-ri facility

13 April 2022
This photo released on March 25 shows what North Korean state media says is the Hwasong-17 ICBM on its launch vehicle. (KCNA via Reuters)
Comment

North Korea's Kim dynasty nears long-cherished ICBM goal

With Hwasong-17, Pyongyang might acquire ability to threaten Washington

6 April 2022
The launch of what North Korea said was a Hwasong-17 greatly expanded the country's strike abilities. (Photo from KCNA)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea's ICBM threat verges on reality, 30 years in the making

Latest test -- 4th during Ukraine war -- makes stride toward global nuclear strike capability

30 March 2022
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks away from what state media reported is a "new type" of intercontinental ballistic missile in this undated photo released on March 24.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea's launch of new ICBM signals cutting of ties to South

Hwasong-17 firing follows election of hard-line Yoon as South Korean president

25 March 2022
South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, left, is seeking to secure preemptive strike capability against any potential attack from Kim Jong Un's North Korea. (Source photos by AP and KCNA/Reuters) 
N Korea at crossroads

Yoon to take hard line against 'main enemy' North Korea

Analysts say chances slim that incoming South Korea leader will make concessions

14 March 2022
South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol faces a multitude of foreign policy challenges. (Nikkei montage/AP)
South Korea election

How Yoon may shift South Korean foreign policy: 5 things to know

President-elect vows to 'rebuild' U.S. alliance, take tougher lines on China and North

11 March 2022
Kim Jong Un, center, who has begun redistributing military resources to people in rural areas, participates in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ryonpho Greenhouse Farm in South Hamgyong Province, on Feb. 18. (Korean Central News Agency/Reuters)
Comment

Is North Korean leader primed to trade missiles for tractors?

Despite his belligerence, Kim Jong Un cannot ignore looming food crisis

1 March 2022
People in Seoul watch a TV news report on a North Korean missile launch on Feb. 27. 
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea shoots for leadership vacuum with new missile test

Pyongyang may see America as spread too thin in Ukraine crisis

28 February 2022
Moon Jae-in exchanges gifts with Pope Francis as they meet at the Vatican in October 2021: Moon believes a papal visit would be too good an opportunity for North Korea to pass up. (Handout photo from Vatican Media)
Opinion

Pope Francis unlikely to visit North Korea

Moon Jae-in's overtures are a symptom of a broader policy problem

14 February 2022
The current strategy of U.S President Joe Biden's administration provides no incentives for Pyongyang to stop developing nuclear arms and missiles. (Source photos by the White House and KCNA)
Comment

Biden's call for dialogue alone aids North Korean ambitions

Lessons from Obama's misguided 'strategic patience' strategy should be remembered

14 February 2022
Philip Goldberg has served since 2019 as ambassador to Colombia and previously as charge d'affaires in Cuba. 
International relations

Biden picks former sanctions enforcer as ambassador to South Korea

Philip Goldberg has worked as coordinator of U.N. sanctions on North Korea

12 February 2022
International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna. A security officer from the organization was targeted by a North Korean cyberattack, according to a new draft report.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea targeted IAEA in cyberattacks: draft U.N. report

Pyongyang said to have stolen $50m-plus in cryptocurrencies to fund arms development

8 February 2022