Korean Security in a Changing East Asia

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Since its partition in the 1950s, the Korean peninsula has directly or indirectly shaped the broader security relations between regional powerhouses, and the recent test of a nuclear weapon by the North Korean regime has heightened tensions across the world. This study draws upon contributions from a diverse array of experts who offer their perspectives on the region's complex network of alliances and hostilities. The authors discuss the future of the region, the potential for military conflict and a new arms race, and the ways to maintain peace and stability. Since its partition in the 1950s, the Korean peninsula has directly or indirectly shaped the broader security relations between regional powerhouses, while the recent test of a nuclear weapon by the North Korean regime has heightened tensions across the world. Japan, feeling increasingly threatened by the North Korean regime and China's extravagant military expenditures, has begun questioning Article IX in its Constitution that renounces war and the maintenance of armed forces. Its neighbors, still haunted by Japanese atrocities during World War II, are fearful of a new nuclear arms race in the region. The United States, for its part, has adopted unprecedented hard-line policies in response to 9/11, going so far as to condemn North Korea as part of an axis of evil. It has strengthened its alliance with Japan and alienated its long-time strategic partner South Korea. Add to this the economic entanglements of each of these countries both with each other and with the rest of the world, and the regional security issues become even more paramount. This study makes sense of these complex alliances and frictions and offers an array of perspectives on the future of the region, the potential for military conflict and a new arms race, and the ways to maintain peace and stability. Topics include big power rivalries, South Korea's sunshine policy, anti-Americanism, and emerging nationalisms.

Author Bio

Terence Roehrig is associate professor in the National Security Decision Making Department at the U.S. Naval War College. He is the author of From Deterrence to Engagement: The U.S. Defense Commitment to South Korea (2006) and The Prosecution of Former Military Leaders in Newly Democratic Nations: The Case of Argentina, Greece, and South Korea (2002). He has published articles and book chapters on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Korean security issues, human rights, and transitional justice. Jungmin Seo is assistant professor at University of Hawaii, Manoa, and specializes in East Asian politics, nationalism, and the political economy of culture. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago and is currently engaged in a research project sponsored by The Social Science Research Council on Korean migrant workers in Beijing. Uk Heo is professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He is the author, co-author, or co-editor of seven books including Conflict in Asia: Korea, China-Taiwan, and India-Pakistan (Praeger 2003) and Defense and Security: A Compendium of National Armed Forces and Security Policies (2005) and the forthcoming titles, Identity and Change in East Asian Conflicts: The Case of China, Taiwan and the Koreas (2007) and Civil Wars of the World: Profiles of the Most Intense Internal Conflicts Since World War II (2007).