North Korea

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North Korea is a reclusive but threatening state as Pyongyang maintains dictatorial control over the country while at the same time threatens war against South Korea and its ally the United States. Brookings experts examine the young, untested "supreme leader" Kim Jong-un and what his provocations mean for regional stability.

U.S. President Barack Obama turns to South Korea's President Park Geun-hye at the start of a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque).

Article

United States Policy towards Northeast Asia

April 2013, Richard C. Bush III

Richard Bush examines the United States’ rebalancing policy toward Asia. Bush argues that the rebalancing is not designed to contain China but to address its “revival,” and notes that the Korean Peninsula is one of the “test cases” that will shape both PRC and U.S. intentions over the long term.

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Refine by: Northeast Asia | Asia and the Pacific | Nuclear Weapons | South Korea

Interview | Huanqiu.com

Why There Will Be No Second Korean War

April 24, 2013, Jonathan D. Pollack
In the News

[Kim Jong Un] is trying to show that he has a strategic mind, that the military stands behind him and that no one stands against him.
April 13, 2013, Kongdan Oh, Washington Post
In the News

One has to wonder whether and to what degree the [New York] channel is able to report back fully and frankly on developments in the United States, and also the extent to which the leadership in Pyongyang is actually listening to what the channel is reporting.
April 8, 2013, Evans J.R. Revere, Washington Post
In the News

I hope that when the exercise winds down in a few weeks, they [the North Koreans] will wind down the rhetoric and we will be in a better place than we are now.
April 5, 2013, Evans J.R. Revere, The Guardian (UK)
In the News

I think the steps taken by the Obama administration are prudent and the minimum necessary to send a message to [North Korea] and our allies that we are prepared to defend them.
April 5, 2013, Evans J.R. Revere, The Guardian (UK)
In the News

The danger here is that South Korea, with U.S. moral support, retaliates and then North Korea feels that it needs to counter-retaliate; China doesn’t control it and so it’s a vicious circle.
April 2, 2013, Richard C. Bush III, Washington Times
Interview | Voice of America

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula

April 1, 2013, Evans J.R. Revere
In the News

We are in a vicious cycle [with North Korea]. Even if things calm down after the current U.S.-South Korea exercise, we will still be at a higher level of tension than in the past.
March 29, 2013, Evans J.R. Revere, Wall Street Journal
In the News

The establishment of the [UN] commission [to look into North Korea's human rights abuses] reflects long overdue recognition that a human rights ‘emergency’ exists in North Korea. The commission of inquiry should not be seen as an end in itself but rather as part of a larger strategy to promote human rights in North Korea.
March 23, 2013, Roberta Cohen, Yonhap News Agency
Interview | WKAR

The Future of the U.S. Nuclear Arsenal

March 20, 2013, Steven Pifer