Posts tagged ‘United States’
A new article in the journal International Security by Bruce W. Bennett (Rand Corporation) and Jennifer Lind (Dartmouth College) entitled “The Collapse of North Korea: Military Missions and Requirement” (may require login) adds to the debate on the lack of preparation for the sudden collapse of North Korea.
The article focuses on military preparedness and the potential missions required. Importantly, it also highlights the lack of preparation in several key areas, including the lack of multilateral planning; the limited consideration of potential collapse in contemporary South Korean defence planning and the need to reform the South Korean reserve structure; and the need to establish more links with North Korean military and government officials. The article is the result of a comprehensive consultation process involving some of the best contingency planning resources.
As anticipated, on 22 November 2011, the National Assembly passed legislation to implement the Korea-United States (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The relatively peaceful passage of the legislation marks a significant step towards defusing the potential political impact of the FTA on the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) in the lead up to key elections in 2012. However, there remain several potential challenges.
On 17 November 2011, the South Korea-Indonesia defense relationship received a strong boost with President Lee and President Yudhoyono holding talks on defense industry cooperation and agreeing to strengthen ties. However, there are emerging issues that will present challenges to the relationship.
President Lee Myung-Bak’s visit to Hawaii for the APEC Leaders’ Summit 2011 will involve some awkward moments. However, these moments may also reflect a sign that South Korea is about to lose the momentum it has gained in trade liberalisation.
On 31 October 2011, the National Assembly Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee failed to review the Korea-United States (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement (FTA), with Committee Chairman Nam Kyung-Pil indicating the review would be postponed to avoid a physical clash as opposition lawmakers blockaded the meeting room.
The week ending 28 October 2011 has seen the visit to South Korea of two senior officials from the United States (US) and China. Read more
On 26 October 2011, the Bank of Korea (BOK) announced that it had reached an agreement with the People’s Bank of China (PBC) to almost double the won-yuan swap arrangement from USD33.7billion to USD56.5 billion. Read more
Analysts have long considered the Korea – United States (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to have an important strategic impact. In both countries, a degree of support for commencing negotiations towards an FTA was the hope that an agreement would restore increasingly strained bilateral relations. Read more
On 12 October 2011, Canadian Agriculture Minister, Gerry Ritz, announced that Canada would turn the issue of the South Korean ban on Canadian beef products over to the World Trade Organization (WTO) if the issue is not resolved by the end of 2011. Read more
During 13-14 October 2011, President Lee Myung-Bak will visit the United States, with reported scheduling to include an address to the US Congress; a state dinner hosted by the US president; and a visit to Detroit. Read more
