▸ Biden Administration is seeking to differentiate negotiationg strategy from previous administrations to North Korea by adopting "bottom up" policy. Although Biden administration is willing to meet  “anywhere, anytime without preconditions.” North Korea, however, repeatedly dismissed all entreaties for dialogue. Pyongyang asserted Washington must first abandon its “hostile policy,” which it ...

► In the future, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration should further strengthen solidarity with countries that share the values of liberal democracy and human rights, so that an overarching consensus on upgraded deterrence and a detailed integrated defense strategy can be prepared. ► The administration will have to put their best efforts into raising the ROK’s response posture, while securing deterrenc...

► Even though President Yoon and President Biden, in their joint statement after their first summit on May 21, 2022, reaffirmed that the KORUS FTA remains the foundation of the economic relationship between the two countries, the landscape surrounding the ROK and the U.S. seems to have dramatically changed.  ► A new chapter for the ROK-US economic relationship has just begun, and we expect it wi...

► There is a saying within the foreign policy community that the first summit is hard to fail. This was the case for the three-day in-person meeting between US President Joe Biden and newly elected South Korean President Suk Yeol Yoon. ► With the highest price level since the early 1980s, bundled with high gas prices, immigration problems, high crime rates and even a baby formula shortage, the Biden ...

► The strong alignment between Seoul and Washington on their North Korea policy could provide an opportunity for the Yoon administration to be in the driver’s seat—possibly with Washington’s full support. This could increase Seoul’s bargaining position and leverage vis-à-vis Pyongyang and help the inter-Korean dialogue start from a different vantage point.     ► As South Korea...

▸ Presidents Biden and Yoon reaffirmed their commitment to the defense of South Korea and security cooperation under the mutual defense treaty. ▸Another change in the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and South Korea is the Yoon administration’s decision to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). ▸The joint statement of this summit meeting has a noticeable addition to the typical joint st...

▸The most recent statement with President Yoon over the weekend included announcements regarding the reactivation of the high-level Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group, the intent to “expand the scope and scale of combined military exercises on and around the Korean Peninsula,” an affirmation of the U.S. commitment to deploy strategic assets in a “timely and coordinated manner as necessary,”...