With its unstable and intermittent nuclear weapon project, and the recent leadership succession issue, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been a source of insecurity for the past decade in this region, in addition to the delicate international relations among the powerful China, United States, Japan, and Russia. The essence of DPRK issue lies in the instability and uncertainty of nuclear development that even the slightest miscalculation by any one power could disturb the sensitive balance of relationships, creating a butterfly effect with a catastrophic result.
Drawing on various perspectives on the interaction over DPRK and other regional powers, this volume seeks to explore the role of DPRK in Northeast Asia, and its implication to regional security as a whole. The volume does not confirm a particular position over DPRK’s nuclear showdown; rather it invites scholars to provide assessments from the viewpoints of neighbouring powers in order to present a more complete understanding of the leading issue in Northeast Asia. The volume will serve as an invaluable resource for policymakers, students and scholars of North Korean politics and international relations.
This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Comparative Asian Development.
1. Introduction to this Special Issue: North Korea and Northeast Asian Regional Security 2. Have Nuclear Weapons Made the DPRK a Rogue State? Studying the Korean Peninsula Crisis from the Waltzian Theory 3. North Korea’s Nuclear Policy: Domestic Determinants, Strategy and Future 4. Peace Movements in South Korea and their Impacts on the Politics of the Korean Peninsula 5. The North Korea Crisis in Sino–US Relations 6. Japan Eyes the North Korean Nuclear Crisis (2006–09) 7. The Evolution of Russia’s Foreign Policy, Ideologies and Strategies in Northeast Asia: A Study of Russo–Korean Relations
Biography
Simon Shen (沈旭暉) is Associate Professor and Director of both Global Studies Programme and the Master of Global Political Economy Programme, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. As the editor of Global Studies Journal, he is also author and editor of five books, including Multi-dimensional Diplomacy of Contemporary China, Online Chinese Nationalism and China’s Bilateral Relations and Redefining Nationalism in Modern China: Sino-American Relations and the Emergence of Chinese Public Opinions in the 21st Century.
