Weapons Proliferation
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Northeast Asia
Japan, South Korea, U.S. discuss sharing North Korea missile data
The Associated Press Japan, South Korea and the United States are negotiating an agreement on sharing real-time data on North Korean missile launches, as cooperation among the three nations becomes increasingly important amid growing nuclear and missile threats from the North, Tokyo’s chief government spokesperson said in early May 2023. “I understand that defense authorities are vigorously proceeding to set…
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Northeast Asia
ROK-U.S. alliance marks 70th anniversary with strengthened mutual defense commitments
FORUM Staff South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and United States President Joe Biden highlighted 70 years of the Republic of Korea (ROK)-U.S. alliance with a commitment to regional peace and stability and continued efforts to deter North Korea’s nuclear weapons proliferation. “The two presidents reaffirmed their ironclad commitment to what has become a global alliance focused on deepening defense…
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Northeast Asia
CCP’s diplomatic overtures to North Korea cast uncertainty over rogue nation’s nuclear disarmament
FORUM Staff Speculation mounts as to whether the Chinese government’s increased efforts at diplomacy with North Korea will curtail the Kim Jong Un regime’s nuclear and ballistic weapons programs or further undermine enforcement of U.N. Security Council Resolutions aimed at stopping their development. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping in a letter to Kim released in mid-April 2023…
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Northeast Asia
Japan, South Korea, U.S., allies, partners denounce North Korea’s latest ICBM test
FORUM Staff Allies, partners and much of the international community condemned North Korea’s test-firing of a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, in mid-March 2023. Japan and South Korea called it a reckless provocation that violates United Nations Security Council sanctions and threatens international peace. North Korea’s failure to follow…
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Key Issues
Allies demonstrate resolve in face of North Korea’s WMD threats
Felix Kim North Korea’s threats to test or deploy weapons of mass destruction (WMD) have sparked increased tension on the Korean Peninsula and beyond, as well as a redoubling of long-standing efforts by allies South Korea and the United States to counter any such use of WMD by Pyongyang. According to security analysts, Seoul and Washington have unprecedented capabilities for…
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Key Issues
Kim regime promotes its demise through U.N. Security Council resolution violations — increasing likelihood of miscalculation
FORUM Staff North Korea ended 2022 the way it began the year, firing missiles in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions. And following a year of unprecedented missile launches by Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un began 2023 by ordering an “exponential” expansion of its nuclear arsenal. Should his threats materialize — and if Kim orders a nuclear attack — the…
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Key Issues
North Korea’s provocative missile launches draw unified response
Felix Kim North Korea’s provocative and destabilizing missile launches, which reached record levels in 2022, are a clear threat to South Korea and Japan, as well as to United States military forces stationed in each of those countries and, potentially, to the U.S. mainland. Seoul is committed to working with Tokyo and Washington to counter the threat, South Korean defense…
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Key Issues
ROK forces establish headquarters to upgrade response to North’s missile provocations
Felix Kim South Korea has established a nuclear and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) response headquarters to improve coordination of counter actions to North Korea’s continued missile provocations. The command post will better enable Republic of Korea (ROK) Armed Forces to identify and suppress threats from Pyongyang. As of mid-December, there had been 35 days of North Korean missile provocations…
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Key Issues
An Indo-Pacific view: 5 key issues to watch in 2023
FORUM Staff A year that erupted with seismic events — one geological, the other geopolitical — rumbled to its close with war still raging in Europe but also with the forging of partnerships for peace in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Just weeks after an underwater volcano in the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire spewed an immense cloud of ash and…
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Across The Region
Positioning Against Provocations
Advisors to South Korea’s then-incoming president sought redeployment of United States strategic assets, such as nuclear bombers and submarines, to the Korean Peninsula during talks in Washington in April 2022. The team of foreign policy and security aides to President Yoon Suk Yeol met with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan as Yoon, who was elected in March 2022 and…
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