Global Asia - June 2019

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EFFORTS OVER DECADES to address the risks of a nuclear-armed North Korea, and go beyond to building a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, have been marked by cycles of high hopes and apparent progress, followed by backsliding and frustration on all sides. The perilous events of 2017 appeared to set in motion yet another iteration of that cycle, beginning with provocative nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang, followed by a breathtaking war of words between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump that appeared to be a prelude to real war. All that changed in 2018 with a series of surprise summits between the leaders of North and South Korea, as well as between Trump and Kim. Perhaps predictably, disappointment once again set in following the “no deal” summit in early 2019 between Trump and Kim in Hanoi.

What potentially sets apart the current push to resolve the peninsula’s myriad problems — the nuclear issue foremost — is the unique role of Moon Jae-in, South Korean president since May 10, 2017. His peace initiative — a driving force in shaping the dialogue not only between the two Koreas but also between Washington and Pyongyang — has placed Moon as the “man in the middle” in the formidable dynamics playing out between Kim and Trump. Moreover, Moon’s ambitions go well beyond the issues that top the agenda for US policy-makers and encompass an overarching vision for the Korean Peninsula.

In our cover package, we have tapped the insights of leading scholars and practitioners of inter-Korean relations who participated in a conference on April 4, co-organized by the Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies and the Korea Institute for National Unification and with financial support from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Asia Research Fund. Together, these articles explore and assess Moon’s peace initiative midway through his presidency...

Global Asia Magazine Description:

Global Asia is a quarterly publication of the East Asia Foundation. The foundation, established in Seoul in January 2005, strives to promote peace, prosperity, security and sustainability in East Asia by creating an open and creative forum for the exchange of ideas on regional co-operation and integration, among other goals.
The mission we have set for ourselves with Global Asia is both bold and urgent: It is to provide a compelling, serious, and responsible forum for distinguished thinkers, policymakers, political leaders and business people to debate the most important issues in Asia today.
Global Asia is not a journal with a fixed point of view, or a particular agenda. Our aim is to give voice to the global dimension of what is happening in Asia. In our pages and on our web site, we aim for Asia to speak to the world, and the world to Asia. That is important at a time when this region is playing an ever greater role in world affairs.
There are other fine publications on international affairs. What sets us apart is our focus: Asia. We believe that the world is moving into “the Age of Asia,” to borrow a phrase from one of the articles in the inaugural issue of Global Asia in September 2006. This transformation is not going to occur overnight, but it has already begun.
The region’s dynamic economic growth, stable and accountable political systems, maturing democracies, and evolving sense of community are giving Asia greater weight in the world. These developments will have enormous implications for governments, businesses, societies and individuals across the globe. How that transformation is viewed, and shaped, from within Asia and how it is perceived outside Asia is an essential part of the story we have to tell.
The forces of globalization are having a profound impact throughout the world. And they are being influenced and channeled in different ways in different parts of the world. Ours is the story of Asia’s experience with globalization, and the ideas and debates influencing it. In pursuing our mission, we aim to play a part, however modest, in helping to shape the future of Asia.