One of the few countries that managed to successfully transform itself from an aid-receiving country to a donor country, South Korea is an economic success story which is often seen as a role model for emerging countries in the region and beyond. Its foreign policy seeks to capitalize on these assets but, as a middle-power, Seoul is also active in shaping a regional architecture for East Asia.
However, the erratic behavior of its northern neighbor persistently undermines the stability of the peninsula, making its objective difficult to achieve. Ifri's Center for Asian Studies examines the developments on the Korean peninsula from these two complementary perspectives.
Senior Research Fellow and Director of Ifri's Center for Asian Studies
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The New Southern Policy (NSP), the signature foreign policy initiative by President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea (ROK) that was officially launched in November 2017, has opened a new chapter in Seoul’s relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as India.<...>
While the COVID-19 pandemic is still greatly affecting most of the world, the Republic of Korea has managed to stall the spread of the disease.
In February 2020, the Ifri Center for Asian Studies and the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS) held a conference on the Asian security environment.
The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare a series of troublesome truths, both about healthcare infrastructures in Western nations and the state of their democracies.
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Through development assistance and economic engagement, South Korea has sought to project itself as a different kind of partner for Africa. In reality, it is not so unique.
The EU is currently undergoing serious challenges from inside such as Brexit and strengthening Euroscepticism, rising populism and changing political geography, anti-immigration moods as well as retarded economic recovery.
The Trump Administration’s Indo-Pacific security strategy is a case study in foreign policymaking under a non-unitary executive.
Shortly after his inauguration in May 2017, the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-In, announced a major policy shift away from nuclear and coal power, and toward renewables and gas. This would have meant a complete U-turn from previous policies, considering that nuclear and coal produced 40%...
Since Kim Jong-Un came to power, the North Korean regime has significantly strengthened its nuclear and ballistic capabilities.
In the week following Trump’s election, Ifri published a study to identify the likely changes in U.S. foreign policy. From the outset, this election appeared as a change in the U.S.’ trajectory, with consequences on the power relations and functioning of the international system.
Annual Conference of Ifri's Center for Asian Studies
Since 1983, the QUAD gathers every year, the SWP, RAND Corporation, Chatham House and Ifri.
The resumption of the inter-Korean dialogue on the occasion of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics has generated strong reactions among both South Korea's political elite and the general public.
As the regional balance of power in Asia continues to evolve and tensions in a number of hot spots - from the Korean Peninsula to the East and South China Seas and the Taiwan Strait - either simmer or intensify, the future of regional stability is increasingly uncertain. Within this context,...
Japan-China relations and Japan-South Korea relations, both very important pillars of international relations in East Asia, are instable and often fraught with bitterness. Controversial...
SEMINAR CANCELLED
As the regional balance of power in East Asia continues to evolve and tensions in a number of hot spots - from the East and South China Seas to the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait - either simmer or intensify, the future of regional stability is increasingly uncertain....
Despite the political tensions that oppose Japan, China and South Korea, recent months have seen a certain rapprochement between Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing. The first trilateral summit in three years was held in November 2015.
The Ifri Center for Asian Studies is pleased to host a closed-door discussion with Taeho Bark, Professor at Seoul National University and former Minister of Commerce in South Korea ...
Disputed interpretations of the Law of the Sea
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Le régime de Pyongyang réclame de l'aide, mais les observateurs internationaux s'interrogent sur l'ampleur du phénomène.
Cet été marque le 70ème anniversaire de la fin de la deuxième guerre mondiale avec le largage des bombes atomiques sur Hiroshima et Nagasaki en Août 1945. Alors que les relations entre la Chine et la Corée du Sud sont au beau fixe, Pékin et Séoul entretiennent des rapports...
Wook Chae is a professor at the Graduate School of Pan-Pacific International Studies of Kyung Hee University and the former President (2008-2013) of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP).
Purge au sein de l’armée, nouveau titre militaire, annonce publique de son mariage, sans toutefois donner de détails, Kim Jong-un semble faire dans la nouveauté pour asseoir son pouvoir.
European officials reacted with a mix of hope and watchfulness to the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and apparent power transition to his son.
Reactions in Europe have been slow and cautious to the news of Kim Jong-il's demise.
En disparaissant le 17 décembre, Kim Jong-il a pris de court tous les analystes et perturbé les plans arrêtés de longue date à Pyongyang pour 2012.
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