November - December 2025

The Asan Forum > Special Forum

Special Forum

Select the date
July 31, 2015 Special Forum
The South China Sea Disputes: Some Blindspots and Misperceptions

The South China Sea disputes have in recent years emerged as, arguably, the most contentious issue on the security agenda in Southeast Asia. Fueled by heated rhetoric, mutual […]

Liow Joseph Chinyong*

EEZ, intra-ASEAN disputes, Regionalism, UNCLOS, US security
June 11, 2015 Special Forum
Introduction: Decomposing and Assessing South Korea’s Hedging Options

Increasingly scholars have opined that South Korea’s response vis-à-vis a rebalancing United States and a resurgent China—like that of other Asian states (except Japan and the Philippines)—is neither […]

Kuik Cheng-Chwee*

hedging, ROK-Sino Relations
June 11, 2015 Special Forum
Option 1: Enhancing Military Deterrence

In the face of the intensifying threat from North Korea, the option that should be foremost in the strategic calculus of South Koreans is enhancing their country’s capacity […]

Hong Kyudok*

KAMD, Kill-Chain, MRL
June 11, 2015 Special Forum
Option 2: Strengthening the ROK-US Alliance

*The views expressed in this report are the author’s alone and do not represent the official position of the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or […]

Terence Roehrig

OPCON transfer, ROK-US Alliance, THAAD
June 11, 2015 Special Forum
Option 3: Reclaiming Diplomatic Ownership

During the more than five centuries of the Yi dynasty (1392-1910), Korea practiced one-dimensional diplomacy; it had only to take care of its tributary relationship with China. Within […]

Choi YJ*

AIIB, multidimensional diplomacy, Sino-US Relations, TPP
June 11, 2015 Special Forum
Option 4: Resuming the Six-Party Talks

The Korean Peninsula has been divided for over seventy years, and there is no sign that the division will end any time soon. The ROK and the DPRK […]

Cheng Xiaohe*

NAPCI, Sino-ROK Relations, Six-Party Talks
June 11, 2015 Special Forum
Option 5: Rethinking Middle Power Diplomacy

Since the Cold War, South Korea has never been in a lonelier position as four great powers and North Korea have appeared to bypass it in their “pivots” […]

Gilbert Rozman

Eurasian Initiative, hedging, MIKTA, NAPCI, Trustpolitik, US-Japan-ROK Trilateralism
April 9, 2015 Special Forum
Four “Middle Power” Pivots to Asia

In this cluster of four articles on pivots to Asia, we expand the range covered in the Special Forum on pivots to Asia posted in the final issue […]

Editorial Staff

Middle Powers, National security, Sino-Russia rebalance, US-China rebalance
April 9, 2015 Special Forum
Less Geneva, More Jakarta? Assessing Australia’s Asia Pivot

The history of Australia’s engagement with Asia is littered with debates about identity and destiny. Settled in 1788 as a British colonial outpost, Australia’s federation did little to […]

Andrew O’Neil

Asia-Pacific engagement, AU-Japan relations, Australia's "Big Three"
April 9, 2015 Special Forum
Recalibrating the Rebalance: A View from South Korea

Akin to other key Asian powers that have a long-standing alliance with the United States, South Korea has welcomed America’s renewed attention to Asia although this is hardly […]

Lee Chung Min*

AIIB, CFC, Sino-DPRK relations, THAAD