Spotlight: Korean Peninsula

Reuters/Jo Yong-Hak - South Koreans display the Unification Flag during the 2010 World Cup soccer qualifying match between two Koreas. The banner reads, "We are one".
Yeongseop Rhee, January 06, 2009
As rumors about Kim Jong-il’s health focus attention on the future of the Korean peninsula, CNAPS Nonresident Fellow Yeongseop Rhee examines issues in South-North monetary integration, a vital aspect of unification. The success – or failure – of monetary integration will have major effects on the peninsular economy, the standard of living in the North, and the South’s appetite for unification.
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North Korea, Northeast Asia, Exchange Rates, Financial Markets, Financial Institutions
northeast asia commentary

Reuters/Jim Young - President-elect Barack Obama and Secretary-designate Hillary Clinton at a campaign event before the 2008 election.
Catharin Dalpino, December 2008
December 10 marks the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly. Catharin Dalpino writes that the Obama administration will face unprecedented challenges in the promotion of human rights in Asia, but is also likely to find new opportunities and should adopt a fresh approach.
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Asia, Human Rights, United Nations, China, International Organizations
SPOTLIGHT: South Korea

Reuters/Jo Yong-Hak - Protesters hold up pictures of U.S. President-elect Obama during an anti-U.S. and anti-war rally in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul.
Sun-won Park, December 09, 2008
Issues in its relationship with the United States often become domestic political problems for the South Korean government, to far a greater extent than for Washington. CNAPS Visiting Fellow Park Sun-won describes the various policy forces in Korea, explores their expectations of the U.S., and prescribes some steps for the two governments to maintain stability in the alliance.
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South Korea, North Korea, Defense, Diplomacy, Asia
PAST EVENT: Securing Japan

Reuters/Jason Reed - U.S. President Bush sits alongside Japan's PM Aso during the G20 Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy in Washington.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
12:00 PM to 1:30 PM
Washington, DC
For the past sixty years, most analysts have assumed that Japan's security policies would reinforce American interests in Asia. The political and military profile of Asia is changing rapidly, however. In this presentation, Dr. Richard Samuels argues that North Korea's renewed nuclear program, China's rise, and the relative decline of U.S. power have commanded strategic review in both Tokyo and Washington, and while Japan is becoming more muscular, it is also clinging to the alliance.
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Japan, Asia, International Relations, Northeast Asia
northeast asia commentary

John Pryke - World leaders participate in the APEC Business Advisory Council Dialogue during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders Meeting in Sydney September 8, 2007.
Richard Weixing Hu, November 2008
Leaders from around the Asia-Pacific gathered in Peru for the APEC summit on November 22-23. Before the meeting, former CNAPS Visiting Fellow Richard Weixing Hu wrote that APEC’s relevance could be jeopardized by its hollow dialogue agendas and competition from the growing number of regional community building projects.
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Asia, Global Economics, Global Finance, International Organizations