Category: Korea peninsula

Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un walking on a red carpet at an airfield with an honor guard and a large airplane in the background.

What Xi and Kim Really Want From Each Other

This analysis explores the strategic motivations behind Xi Jinping’s recent state visit to North Korea, examining the complex triangular relationship between Beijing, Pyongyang, and Moscow. As North Korea deepens its military ties with Russia, we discuss how China is navigating the erosion of its traditional diplomatic framework, the pursuit of regional stability, and the ongoing challenge of maintaining economic and political influence over a regime now emboldened by its own nuclear status.

Read More »
A conceptual illustration of hands assembling a missile like a puzzle against a blue background with a North Korean flag piece.

Cold Peace Offers Realistic Path on North Korea

After thirty years of unsuccessful attempts at total denuclearization, North Korea’s nuclear program has evolved into a formidable, permanent threat. As Pyongyang accelerates missile testing and expands its nuclear facilities, the window for traditional diplomacy has closed. A new pragmatic strategy—a “Cold Peace”—focused on immediate risk reduction and crisis management, may now be the only realistic path to ensuring regional stability.

Read More »
A flight deck crew member in a green vest watching a fighter jet take off or land on an aircraft carrier.

What the Iran War Taught the Pentagon About Missiles

Operation Epic Fury has provided the Pentagon with a critical reality check on missile warfare. While interception rates in the Gulf reached an impressive 90%, the “magazine depth” crisis is now a strategic liability. With the U.S. depleting nearly 30% of its Tomahawk arsenal and 40% of its global THAAD inventory in just weeks, the conflict has exposed a dangerous replenishment gap that could compromise deterrence in the Indo-Pacific theater against more sophisticated hypersonic threats.

Read More »
A dark missile launching vertically from the blue ocean with a large plume of white smoke and a bright fire trail at its base.

Allied Missile Defense Could Reshape East Asia’s SLBM Threat

This analysis examines how a trilateral, sea-based missile defense architecture between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea could neutralize the evolving North Korean Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) threat. By moving away from the “sole defender” model depicted in the 2025 thriller A House of Dynamite, the alliance can leverage forward-deployed Aegis assets to create a layered, multi-azimuth defense that buys critical decision-making time.

Read More »
Map showing the Acheson Line (dotted blue line) defining the US defense perimeter in the Pacific, labeled in Korean

The New Acheson Line: How Trump’s ‘America First’ Strategy Abandons Asia

The 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) released by the Trump administration has shocked the Indo-Pacific, indicating a major shift in U.S. defense commitments. Framed as a “realist” recalibration, it is perceived by analysts in Tokyo and Seoul as a strategic retreat, echoing the Nixon Doctrine and repositioning a defensive perimeter along the First Island Chain, thereby conceding the Asian mainland to Chinese influence and prioritizing economic nationalism over alliance unity.

Read More »