Japan and South Korea are Western-style democracies with open-market economies committed to the rule of law. They are also U.S. allies. Yet despite their shared interests, shared values, and geographic proximity, divergent national identities have driven a wedge between them. Drawing on decades of expertise, Brad Glosserman and Scott A. Snyder investigate the roots of this split and its ongoing threat to the region and the world. Glosserman and Snyder isolate competing notions of national identity as the main obstacle to a productive partnership between Japan and South Korea. Through public opinion data, interviews, and years of observation, they show how fundamentally incompatible, rapidly changing conceptions of national identity in Japan and South Korea—and not struggles over power or structural issues—have complicated territorial claims and international policy. Despite changes in the governments of both countries and concerted efforts by leading political figures to encourage U.S.–ROK–Japan security cooperation, the Japan–South Korea relationship continues to be hobbled by history and its deep imprint on ideas of national identity. This book recommends bold, policy-oriented prescriptions for overcoming problems in Japan–South Korea relations and facilitating trilateral cooperation among these three Northeast Asian allies, recognizing the power of the public on issues of foreign policy, international relations, and the prospects for peace in Asia.

This book provides an original examination of current European Union (EU)–Republic of Korea (ROK) security relations. It brings together analysis and original material on relations in the fields of Nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, Cybersecurity and data-protection, Space policy and technology, and Preventive diplomacy and crisis management. These represent areas of particular interest to examine the extent to which the EU and ROK are able to successfully or otherwise cooperate. Relations between the EU and the ROK have been growing in quantity and quality over recent years. Alongside the economic dimension, the political and security elements of the relationship have shown promise for further collaboration between the two sides, not least within the context of North Korea’s nuclear threat and East Asia’s wider evolving security environment. All contributors are leading experts in their respective fields and each chapter is co-authored by a European and Korean expert for a balanced assessment. The volume will be essential reading for students, scholars and policy-makers interested in EU–Korea relations, EU foreign policy and security, Area studies, and, more broadly to EU politics studies, security studies, and international relations.

The Korean Peninsula was and is in a state of flux.More than 60 years after the war that left the country divided, the policies and unpredictability of the North Korean regime, in conjunction with the U.S. alliance with South Korea and the involvement of China in the area, leave the situation there one of the most capricious on the globe. Confronting Security Challenges on the Korean Peninsula presents the opinions from experts on the subject matter from the policy, military, and academic communities. Drawn from talks at a conference in September 2010 at Marine Corps University, the papers explore the enduring security challenges, the state of existing political and military relationships, the economic implications of unification, and the human rights concerns within North and South Korea. They also reiterate the importance for the broader East Asia region of peaceful resolution of the Korean issues.

This book examines the interaction between state security and regime security in South Korea in the period 1953-60 under the leadership of President Syngman Rhee.

Any discussion of the security of Korea has implications for U.S.-Japan relations, but the Carter administration's announcement in 1977 of its intention to withdraw U.S. ground-combat forces from Korea by 1982, which brought to the surface deep-rooted Japanese and American frustrations with one another, made it clear that neither side fully understood the other's view of Korea. This book, a collaborative effort by specialists of diverse expertise and viewpoints, clarifies U.S. and Japanese perceptions of the Korean problem and explores alternative approaches to the maintenance of peace and security on the Korean peninsula. Demonstrating that much of the conventional wisdom about Korean security rests on oversimplifications, exaggerated fears, and mistaken assumptions, the authors assert that the prospects for avoiding conflict grow brighter despite existing pitfalls, and offer recommendations for the U.S. and Japanese governments.

This volume outlines South Korea's progress and accomplishments toward enhancing its role and reputation as a contributor to international security.

This Handbook examines the theory and practice of international relations in Asia. Building on an investigation of how various theoretical approaches to international relations can elucidate Asia's empirical realities, authors examine the foreign relations and policies of major countries or sets of countries.

Against the backdrop of China’s mounting influence and North Korea’s growing nuclear capability and expanding missile arsenal, South Korea faces a set of strategic choices that will shape its economic prospects and national security. In South Korea at the Crossroads, Scott A. Snyder examines the trajectory of fifty years of South Korean foreign policy and offers predictions—and a prescription—for the future. Pairing a historical perspective with a shrewd understanding of today’s political landscape, Snyder contends that South Korea’s best strategy remains investing in a robust alliance with the United States. Snyder begins with South Korea’s effort in the 1960s to offset the risk of abandonment by the United States during the Vietnam War and the subsequent crisis in the alliance during the 1970s. A series of shifts in South Korean foreign relations followed: the “Nordpolitik” engagement with the Soviet Union and China at the end of the Cold War; Kim Dae Jung’s “Sunshine Policy,” designed to bring North Korea into the international community; “trustpolitik,” which sought to foster diplomacy with North Korea and Japan; and changes in South Korea’s relationship with the United States. Despite its rise as a leader in international financial, development, and climate-change forums, South Korea will likely still require the commitment of the United States to guarantee its security. Although China is a tempting option, Snyder argues that only the United States is both credible and capable in this role. South Korea remains vulnerable relative to other regional powers in northeast Asia despite its rising profile as a middle power, and it must balance the contradiction of desirable autonomy and necessary alliance.

North Korea is consistently identified as one of the world’s worst human rights abusers. However, the issue of human rights in North Korea is a complex one, intertwined with issues like life in the North Korean police state, inter-Korean relations, denuclearization, access to information in the North, and international cooperation, to name a few. There are likewise multiple actors involved, including the two Korean governments, the United States, the United Nations, South Korea NGOs, and global human rights organizations. While North Korea’s nuclear weapons and the security threat it poses have occupied the center stage and eclipsed other issues in recent years, human rights remain important to U.S. policy. The contributors to The North Korean Conundrum explore how dealing with the issue of human rights is shaped and affected by the political issues with which it is so entwined. Sections discuss the role of the United Nations; how North Koreans’ limited access to information is part of the problem, and how this is changing; the relationship between human rights and denuclearization; and North Korean human rights in comparative perspective.

How can the United States and South Korea best co-operate to address new security challenges? Can the US-ROK alliance serve to advance South Korea's interests and at the same time help the US to more effectively pursue its own global and regional security objectives? In the context of these questions, the authors explore the possibilities for enhanced co-operation in both traditional and non-traditional spheres.