North Korea in 2025: Between domestic control and global gambles
The tradition of North Korean leaders delivering major New Year speeches ended in 2020. Instead, Kim Jong Un now announces policy and budget decisions...
Between Moscow and Mar-a-Lago: N. Korea’s critical crossroads in 2025
After 37 years of studying North Korean affairs, I'm often asked how I continue to track current issues and where I get my information,...
Different beds, different dreams: Analyzing Trump and Kim’s political romance 2.0
"Trump's back!" As the world watches, Trump's victory in the 47th U.S. presidential election marks his dramatic return to the White House. Given his...
The “Aug. 15 doctrine”: South Korea’s new unification strategy
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol unveiled a new unification doctrine, the "Aug. 15 Unification Doctrine," during his speech marking the 79th anniversary of Korea's...
How to counter N. Korea’s garbage balloon campaign
Since late May, North Korea has been launching balloons filled with fecal matter into South Korea, an act both irrational and inhumane. The South...
Kim Jong Un’s Tightrope Walk: N. Korea’s shifting strategies and the looming specter of...
Seven months have passed since Kim Jong-un declared the "two-state narrative." During this time, North Korea has denied the concept of a unified Korean...
North Korea’s new Kim Jong Un solo badge is significant
North Korea's Korean Central TV broadcast news of the second day of the Eighth Party Central Committee's 10th Plenary Session on June 30, showing...
N. Korea is mysteriously delaying its constitutional amendment
Some four months have passed since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un asserted that two states exist on the Korean Peninsula, denying the concept...
A new proposal for unifying the two Koreas
South Korea’s 22nd parliamentary election is now over. On Apr. 10, the same day as the South Korean election, Kim Jong Un paid a...
Kim Jong Un has only just started his diplomatic game with Japan
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is an ambitious gambler with some big hang-ups.
In early 2024, 13 years into his reign, Kim made a...
