With President Yoon Suk Yeol officially taking office, all eyes are on how his administration will shape the future of South Korean foreign policy. We have asked several prominent domestic and international figures to share their analyses and predictions on the prospects and challenges the Yoon administration will face over the next five years.

During World War II, the Meiji government exploited hundreds of forced laborers and prisoners of war — many of whom were Korean — to operate the Sado Island Gold Mines. Despite this deplorable history, the Japanese government has recently nominated the mines for UNESCO World Heritage status. In response, the Korean government has expressed its deep regrets and has called for an immediate retraction. On this topic, we have asked Alexis Dudden (professor at the University of Connecticut), David Palmer (professor at the University of Melbourne), and Jaeheon Choi (professor at Konkuk University) to share their views on what this move implies for future relations between Seoul and Tokyo.

With the Biden administration considering a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, competition between the US and China has now reached a plane beyond the realms of trade, technology, and military. Given that the UK is also slated to do the same, middle power countries like Korea are stuck in a precarious position. We have asked advice from Andrew Yeo (professor at The Catholic University of America), John Delury (professor at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies), and Kuyeon Chung (professor at Kangwon University) on what Korea should do in this specific case as well as in the broader context of deepening US-China competition.

The Biden administration will make public its nuclear policy with its forthcoming Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). This time, as the possible adoption of "no first use" (NFU) and "sole purpose" has been raised, allies such as the UK and Japan have expressed concern and opposition. What does that mean to the U.S. extended deterrence and what implications will there be for the allies? Bong Jun Ko (professor at Chungnam National University), Jungseop Kim (senior research fellow at the Sejong Institue), and Joshua Pollack (editor of the Nonproliferation Review at Middlebury Institute) offer their views.

At the 76th Session of the General Assembly in New York on October 27th, DPRK’s ambassador to the United Nations denounced American hypocrisy and demanded the suspension of US military exercises on the Korean peninsula. It is now up to the Republic of Korea to assess the necessity of joint exercises in ensuring that the transfer of OPCON to the South Korean military goes smoothly and to weigh the validity of suspending or resuming drills. On this topic, we have invited Su Seok Lee (research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy), Horyoung Lee (senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses), and Bruce W. Bennett (adjunct researcher at the RAND Corporation).

U.S. President Joe Biden has recently stated the American willingness to defend Taiwan if China attacked, in an apparent departure from a long-held U.S. foreign policy position. Regarding this public statement, China has yet to respond, while Taiwan has chosen to stay neutral, saying it would neither give in to pressure nor "rashly advance" when it gets support. Bo Ram Kwon (associate research fellow at the KIDA), Jong-dae Kim, and Chung-min Tsai (professor at the National Chengchi University) will share their views on possibly rising tensions and implications for South Korea.

In his final address at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Moon Jae-in once again urged the international community to join South Korea in taking steps to formally end the Korean War. The two Koreas had agreed upon ending the war in 2018; yet three years later, little actual progress has been made and President Moon’s term is coming to an end. This week, we have invited three panelists to analyze the significance of President Moon’s U.N. declaration, evaluate DPRK’s response, and assess the prospects of the Korean War ending at last. Ambassador Joseph Yun (senior advisor to the Asia program at the U.S. Institute of Peace) will kick off our discussions, with Hyunik Hong (senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute), Inh-hwi Park (professor at Ewha Women's University), and Han Xian-dong (professor at the China University of Political Science and Law) following shortly.

Japan's former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) leadership election and has secured his position as the next prime minister. Because of his role in the "comfort women" deal in 2015, along with a concern for forward-looking relations between the two countries, which have reached their lowest point in years over historical and territorial issues, there is doubt about prospects for Korea-Japan relations in the near term. Sheila Smith (senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations), Jennifer Lind (professor at Dartmouth College), Junya Nishino (professor at Keio University), Heesik Choi (professor at Kookmin University), and Changsoo Jin (director of the Japan Research Center at the Sejong Institute) will share their views.

In the FY22 National Defense Authorization Bill released earlier this month by the U.S. House of Representatives, South Korea was included as a potential addition to the so-called ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence program that currently involves Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand. Likewise, the nations of Japan, India, and Germany were also proposed as new members, conceivably ensuing the expansion of ‘Five Eyes’ to ‘Nine Eyes’. This, however, is contingent upon President Joe Biden’s decision to ratify the bill and the implications of including (or not including) South Korea in the Five Eyes intelligence program. On this, we have invited Youngjun Kim (professor at the Korea National Defense University), Alex Soohoon Lee (associate research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses), and Zack Cooper (senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute).

Bilateral links and cooperation between EU member states and the ROK have been strengthened in the recent past. The EU's growing interest and presence in the Indo-Pacific has boosted discussions on deepening and diversifying the EU-ROK cooperation. Nonetheless, there is still room for improvement in order for the EU-ROK cooperation to leap into a more comprehensive partnership especially in the area of security relations. Although the EU and ROK recognize each other as potential strategic partners contributing to regional stability, cooperation is constrained by the geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China. In order for the potential of EU-ROK cooperation to be fully realized under geopolitical constraints, creative approaches and diversification in the field of security cooperation are critical. Ramon Pacheco Pardo (KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Brussels School of Governance), Hae-won Jun (professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security), Jinwoo Choi (professor at Hanyang University), and Eric Ballbach (research fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs) will share their view.