South Korea

The present relationship between Seoul and Washington is plagued with problems, and recently the amount of money South Korea spends on U.S. military forces stationed in its territory has become the most pressing one. However, in the ROK these increased tensions are associated with Moon Jae-in’s attempts to follow an independent foreign policy course, especially with regards to its fairly long-standing conflict with Japan.

The developments linked to the dispute between Seoul and Washington about sharing defense costs became an indirect reason for the hype surrounding the US Ambassador to South Korea, Harry B. Harris. Some far left politicians even demanded that he be deemed persona non grata.

As we continue to follow Lee Jae-yong’s case, the author would like to point out the fact that ROK President’s attempts to “get to” the oligarchs have ranged in scope. During 2019, they have had an effect on many of them, hence, it is far simpler to use names of companies rather than describe events in a chronological manner in this article.
Samsung

On 7 November 2019, South Korea handed over two DPRK citizens to North Korea for the first time. They requested political asylum but, back home, the two had been accused of mass murder. The first deportation (or extradition) of North Korean defectors, who expressed their desire to remain in the ROK, has become the subject of heated and politically charged debates within communities and among human rights advocates.

On 7 November 2019, South Korea handed over two DPRK citizens to North Korea for the first time. They requested political asylum but, back home, the two had been accused of mass murder. The first deportation (or extradition) of North Korean defectors, who expressed their desire to remain in the ROK, has become the subject of heated and politically charged debates within communities and among human rights advocates.

Chinese military aircraft entering what is referred to as South Korea’s Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) is something that constantly comes up when we discuss the problems affecting relations between China and South Korea, but this problem has recently started becoming even more serious.

Daniel LARISON
Sanctions on North Korea have been harming the civilian population, and that harm has intensified over the last three years of the “maximum pressure” campaign. A new study concludes that sanctions are responsible for directly contributing to almost 4,000 avoidable deaths in 2018 alone:

As it was promised, we are going to take a closer look at the speech presented by South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in in front of the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2019. The rationale behind this analysis is the fact that nothing can tell you more about a politician than his public speeches.