by SeungHwan Kim* On October 24, 2025, President Donald Trump, aboard Air Force One en route to Asia, made a short remark with profound implications about North Korea (DPRK): “Well, I think they are sort of a nuclear power…” Since the start of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has consistently emphasized his personal rapport with North Korean leader Kim Jong […]
North Korea
Op-Ed: The Korean Peninsula Has Seen Grand Overtures Come and Go – What Matters Now is Whether Small Steps Can Still Lead Somewhere
Research Analyst Shawn Rostker wrote an op-ed for 38 North about how U.S. policy toward North Korea’s nuclear program must change. For decades, US policy toward North Korea has ranged from bombast to paralysis. The Trump-Kim summits marked a rare moment of high-level diplomacy, but with little lasting progress. Today, with signs that the United States […]
A South Korean Bomb Would Be No Boon for Burden-Shifting
by Carl Parkin* In its first few months, the second Trump administration has disrupted long standing alliance relationships by questioning existing arrangements. The project to recast the United States’ role in its alliances won’t end with Europe, and if nominations are anything to go by, South Korea may be next on the burden-sharing chopping block. […]
Op-ed: North Korean Forces in Ukraine: What it Means and What to Do
Senior Policy Director John Erath wrote an op-ed for the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs on the presence of North Korean forces in Ukraine. The presence of North Korean forces in Ukraine could reinforce Russian propaganda aimed at forcing Ukraine into an unfavorable ceasefire by adding to misperceptions that the war might be unwinnable. However, […]
Op-ed: North Korea in Ukraine: What It Means for the World
Senior Policy Director John Erath wrote an op-ed in The Diplomat about North Korean troops in Ukraine. In October 2024, the news broke that North Korea was sending troops to Russia to participate in Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Although most international responses to this development involved condemnation of this latest escalation, there was also […]
