Gao: The owners of a standard have an advantage over others when competing in the market. Standards and their adoption contribute to economic growth and promote trade. China is well aware of the economic importance of international standards. Given the size of its domestic market and the advancement of its technological capability, China is in a position to challenge the international standardiza...

During a speech at Victory Day celebrations on July 27, the North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol, mentioning his name for the first time since his inauguration. Amid the dark days of inter-Korean relations due to Kim Jong-un’s strong criticism toward the current South Korean government, domestic political debate is still heated over the forced repatriation of...

India is expected to grow to have the world’s greatest population, overtaking China. Its economy also has a huge role in the United States’ Silicon Valley, as India produces numerous advanced IT human resources. And its low-key but powerful influence can also bee see in Indian diplomacy. India’s biggest antagonist is China. The Indo-China border dispute is appalling. In 2018, there was a military...

The NATO summit at the end of June signaled a shift in global security. The summit identified Russia as a direct threat and China as a systemic challenge. The results of the NATO summit indicate where the United States’ policy objectives stand. The US’ new strategy in the Asia-Pacific region is the Indo-Pacific strategy, and its strategy in Europe is NATO’s eastward expansion. The US is aiming to...

Australia is a country that has multiple similarities with Korea. Both are considered middle powers, both are allies of the US and have China as the largest trading partner, and the foreign policies in both countries depend on the domestic governing power. Above all, looking back at our choices between the US and China, they were mostly based on “Anmi-kyeongjung,” depending on the security of the...

After the previous summit with US President Joe Biden in May, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s attendance at the NATO summit was a straight one-two punch that proved a change in the new Korean government’s foreign policy. Contrasting with the Moon Jae-in government’s friendly stance toward China, Yoon instead moved boldly without hesitation. He chose to prioritize the alliance with the US. Under the fra...

In recent weeks, the Korean Peninsula had two situations going on in the South and North. South Korea was holding its first summit on May 21 with US President Joe Biden in Seoul, just 10 days after President Yoon Suk-yeol’s inauguration. The two leaders agreed on escalating the alliance into a “Global Comprehensive Strategic Alliance.” South Korea has decided to cooperate with the US in high-tech...

Since China overtook Japan in terms of economy in 2010, Japan‘s vigilance and checks against China have been visibly rising. Mostly, the two countries have a wide gap regarding issues surrounding the East China Sea, South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. The Russia-Ukraine war re-emphasizes the importance of traditional Japanese geopolitics. In addition, technological competition -- the core of s...

US-China relations are the most critical bilateral relations among numerous others in the international community. Since Xi Jinping became the supreme leader of China in 2012, China has been shaping its own diplomatic color, instead of “taoguang yanghui” (keep a low profile and bide your time, while also getting something accomplished). Although there is still a lack of sophistication and detail...

At Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum in Beijing back in 2019, the former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger mentioned that the US and China were still in the “foothills of the New Cold War,” which basically meant that we had not entered it yet. From my personal view, there must be a few objective criteria before determine that the New Cold War has begun: Will Biden’s 4 years also presen...

Right before the Russia-Ukraine War broke out, Russian President Vladimir Putin hurried to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics. Putin’s visit was a show of his consideration to China, and many have analyzed that the Russia-Ukraine War would have broken out faster if it was not for the Winter Olympics. As shown, China was a critical factor to consider. All of international society, including the Un...

Just as how Korea is referred to as the East’s Land of the Morning Calm, Canada is the West’s. Despite its vast territory, Canada has often flown under the radar on the global stage because of its small population and proximity to the world’s largest economy, the US. From Korea’s standpoint, news from the four major powers -- the US, China, Japan, and Russia -- have mostly dominated the headlines...

The inauguration of South Korea’s new government in May will be an opportunity to assess the current state of South Korea-China relations and seek further development in the future. President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol presented his plans to turn South Korea into a global pivotal state during his election campaign. He has also declared that strengthening the US-South Korea alliance and South Korea-Chin...

Historically, Korea and Japan have long been in conflict and contradiction. Since Japan’s colonization of Korea, it has deepened what some observe to be Japan’s sense of superiority over Korea and Korea’s sense of inferiority toward Japan. Japan’s “Lost Decades” –- a period of economic stagnation caused by an asset price bubble collapsing in the 1990s -- and Korea’s rise in national power in the ...

As the recent US-China competition intensifies, the strategic significance of the Indo-Pacific region is also rising. In this situation, major countries are presenting new Indo-Pacific Strategies with the purpose of strengthening their respective political, economic, and military influence in the Indo-Pacific region. The US Biden administration has set its Indo-Pacific vision as its main diplomat...