North Korea

Taiwanese soldiers demonstrate their combat skills during a visit by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen at a military base in Chiayi, Taiwan, on 6 January 2023. (Sam Yeh/AFP)

Taiwan Strait issue: Taking lessons from history

Tensions in China-US relations are increasing, with the Taiwan Strait issue central to the antagonism between the two major powers. Chinese academic Guo Bingyun assesses four models from history that the US may adopt in the event of an armed reunification, and why these approaches may or may not be effective.
South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol arrives for the G20 Leaders' Summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on 15 November 2022. (Mast Irham/AFP)

South Korea's new Indo-Pacific strategy: Seeking the best of both worlds

South Korea’s new Indo-Pacific strategy underscores the country’s ambitions to be a “global pivotal state”. Seoul seeks to effect a careful balance: inclining towards the US-led grouping advocating a “free and open Indo-Pacific”, while at the same time engaging China.
This file photo taken on 14 October 2018 shows soldiers from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force taking part in a military review at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Asaka training ground in Asaka, Saitama prefecture. Japan announced on 16 December 2022 its biggest defence overhaul in decades, hiking spending, reshaping its military command and acquiring new missiles to tackle the threat from China. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP)

Japanese academic: Why Japan needs to level up its military capabilities

Japan has recently announced updates to its national defence strategy, which shows a shift of focus from building defence capabilities to developing “counterattack capabilities” in enemy territory, citing the rapidly worsening security environment as the key factor for doing so. Japanese academic Masafumi Iida also suggests cooperation with Southeast Asian nations to stabilise regional situations.
This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 27 November 2022 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (centre right) and his daughter (centre left) posing with soldiers who contributed to the test-firing of the new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), at an unknown location in North Korea. (KCNA via KNS/AFP)

Can China avert North Korea's seventh nuclear test?

With North Korea’s seventh testing of a nuclear weapon looking imminent, Chinese academic Jin Kai notes that the ROK’s hardened stance and the US’s inconsistent policies are not helping to calm rising tensions in the Korean peninsula. And while it is perceived to hold sway over North Korea, China’s influence over its neighbour may be overrated in truth.
An aerial view shows Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF)'s multi-purpose destroyer Izumo (DDH-183) leading the fleet during the International Fleet Review to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the JMSDF, at Sagami Bay, off Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Japan, 6 November 2022. (Kyodo/via Reuters)

Japan's move towards acquisition of strike capabilities could benefit Southeast Asia

Japan is considering the deployment of non-nuclear counter-strike capabilities in the face of growing threats from North Korea and China. Japanese academic Yoichiro Sato believes that for Southeast Asian countries, this might be a win-win situation in terms of maintaining the region’s non-nuclear stance, yet retaining the option of bringing US-Japanese allied capabilities to bear in contingencies.
US President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, 14 November 2022. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Xi-Biden meeting: Nobody wants war over Taiwan Strait

The long-awaited face-to-face meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping finally took place this week on the sidelines of the G20 summit. While both sides expectedly reiterated their stance on key issues such as climate change, North Korea and the Russia-Ukraine war, the Taiwan issue continues to be the highlight, with Xi marking it as the “first red line’’ that must not be crossed. Zaobao journalists Miao Zong-Han and Daryl Lim tell us more.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an exhibition marking the anniversary of a historical parade in 1941, when Soviet soldiers marched towards the front lines during World War Two, in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia, 8 November 2022. (Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin/Sputnik via Reuters)

The world is no longer safe from a nuclear war

Lianhe Zaobao associate editor Peter Ong remarks that the likelihood of a nuclear war has suddenly increased manyfold since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. Besides Russia, the US has also become the main actor that could initiate the use of nuclear weapons. He shares his thoughts on these major powers’ historic and present-day views of nuclear weapons. Are they willing to risk it all?
A man walks past a television report showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on 6 October 2022. (Anthony Wallace/AFP)

What to make of Kim Jong-un's missile launch spree

The spate of missile launches by North Korea over the past month has shown Kim Jong-un’s unrelenting strategic thinking to hold nuclear weapons and keep growing nuclear power at all costs. With spillover effects on the US, South Korea and Japan, the security situation in the Korean peninsula is spiralling downward amid mutual aggravation. How will the region respond to the increasing nuclear threat?
A vintage doll is pictured near a damaged kindergarten following recent Russian shelling in the city of Slovyansk, Ukraine, as Russia's attack in Ukraine continues, on 2 September 2022 (Ammar Awad/Reuters)

In the China-US-Russia confrontation, it is military power that counts in the end

The Russia-Ukraine war has turned into a stage for the US and Russian militaries to flex their muscles, and so too in the case of the Taiwan Strait for the People’s Liberation Army and the US military. Against this backdrop, says political commentator Jin Jian Guo, the arms race in East Asia is quickening its pace, with Japan seeking to revise its constitution, Taiwan aiming to raise military spending next year, and North Korea holding firm to its nuclear programme. How will these developments affect geopolitics and security in the region?