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August 7, 2018 Country Reports
Country Report: Japan (August 2018)

As Donald Trump wreaked havoc in international relations, confusing friend with foe, Japan was not at all immune. Unlike European allies, it was left essentially to fend for […]

Editorial Staff

BRI, CJK summit, comfort women, Senkaku Islands, TPP-11, trade war, Trump-Kim summit
April 19, 2018 Alternative Scenarios
Negative Scenario II

Jennifer Lind has sketched positive prospects for South Korean-Japanese relations and the history issue. She broadly finds that geopolitical pressures will overwhelm historical narratives of animosity or re-write […]

Robert Kelly

anti-Japanism, comfort women, Dokdo /Takeshima, Park Geun-hye
April 19, 2018 Alternative Scenarios
Positive Scenario II

Those hoping for progress in historical reconciliation between Japan and South Korea would have been disappointed by Seoul’s recent commemoration of the March 1 independence movement. Such holidays […]

Jennifer Lind

anti-Koreanism, comfort women, Dokdo /Takeshima, Flying Tigers, March 1 address
March 19, 2018 Country Reports
Country Report: Japan (April 2018 with Focus on Korea)

Not only was Abe battered by a domestic scandal, his foreign policy was rocked by diplomacy, history, and trade shocks. The North Korean presence at the Winter Olympics […]

Editorial Staff

“smile diplomacy”, comfort women, Dokdo /Takeshima, Pyeongchang Olympics, Six-Party Talks, Yasukuni
March 1, 2018 Open Forum
With Friends Like These: Japan-ROK Cooperation and US Policy

Although they share a common ally, history and politics keep Japan and South Korea at arm’s length and severely limit their defense cooperation. Since at least the mid-1990s, […]

Eric Heginbotham

comfort women, Dokdo /Takeshima, GSOMIA, Three Eyes, Yasukuni
February 27, 2018 Special Forum
Introduction

As the diplomatic prospects for resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis took center stage while the military focus remained fixed on North Korea’s persistent advances and the “fire […]

Editorial Staff

comfort women, KORUS FTA, Pyeongchang Olympics, THAAD, US-ROK alliance
February 27, 2018 Special Forum
US-ROK Alliance

North Korea’s Olympic outreach brought an easing of tensions between North and South Korea after a year of escalating tensions throughout 2017. After delivering a somewhat conciliatory New […]

Sue Mi Terry

comfort women, Kim Yo-jung, KORUS FTA, OPCON, Pyeongchang Olympics, THAAD, trilateralism, Victor Cha
February 19, 2018 Alternative Scenarios
Positive Scenario I

“History Bows to Strategy” In East Asia, disputes over history seem to be either roiling the region’s international relations—or lurking just beneath the surface. China emphasizes Japan’s atrocities […]

Jennifer Lind

Ahn Jung-geun, comfort women, Dokdo /Takeshima, Nanjing Massacre, Senkaku (Diaoyu), Yasukuni Shrine
February 2, 2018 Country Reports
Country Report: South Korea (January 2018)

From November 2017 to January 2018, South Korean news editorials discussed North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, Hwaseong-15, and covered bilateral dynamics: South Korea-China relations following […]

Eun A Jo

comfort women, freeze-for-freeze, Hwaseong 15, Moon-Xi summit, Pyeongchang Olympics, THAAD
October 30, 2017 Country Reports
Country Report: Japan (October 2017)

The October issue of Bungei Shunju traced Abe’s trajectory as prime minister. It noted his persistent interest in Japan playing a leading global role, keeping US ties as […]

Editorial Staff

BRI, BRICS summit, comfort women, Senkaku Islands, THAAD, UN sanctions