Inhwan Oh, Senior Research Fellow and Executive Director at EAI, analyzes the Trump administration’s 2025 Maritime Action Plan (MAP) as a watershed moment in U.S. grand strategy, interpreting it as a response to China’s rapid naval buildup and the erosion of America’s maritime industrial base. Dr. Oh notes that while the United States retains...

Seunghee Ha, Research Professor at Dongguk University, contends that the culture of lyrical parody among North Korean residents functions as a form of cultural praxis that dismantles the symbolic language of state propaganda and confronts lived reality. Professor Ha argues that the emotions and creativity expressed through these adaptations embody ...

Chaesung Chun, Chair of the EAI National Security Research Center and Professor at Seoul National University, characterizes the Trump administration’s negotiation strategy as broker-style, privileging narrow tactical gains over structural resolution. Professor Chun asserts that future U.S.-North Korea summits are likely to adhere to this paradig...

Jaewoo Jun, Associate Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, argues that the recent signs of estrangement between North Korea and China should not be interpreted as a straightforward rupture, but rather as an extension of North Korea’s long-term strategic posture. Drawing on historical patterns of realignment within the Nort...

Young-seon Jeon, Professor of Konkuk University, argues that North Korea’s leadership perceives the younger generation, defined by attenuated loyalty and a faint sense of revolutionary consciousness, as a serious threat to regime stability. In response, the Kim Jong Un regime has elevated ideological and cultural indoctrination targeting youth as...

Seung-ho Jung, Professor of Incheon National University, contends that despite North Korea’s extensive provision of manpower and military materiel in support of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the resultant economic compensation has remained markedly limited. Professor Jung attributes the constraints impeding substantive economic cooperation between P...

Won Gon Park, Chair of EAI's North Korea Studies Center and Professor at Ewha Womans University, analyzes the strategic implications of the 2018 Singapore Summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. Park argues that the joint statement's vague phrasing around "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" constituted a significant diplomatic concessio...

Kyung-young Chung, Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Hanyang University, defines the transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) from the U.S. to the ROK as an absolute necessity for Korean national survival. Chung underscores that the expeditious transition of OPCON would eliminate North Korea’s arrogance toward ...

Hyeong Jung Park, Emeritus Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), analyzes North Korea’s strategic perception in the era of “Trump 2.0” and the trajectory of Kim Jong Un’s policy toward the United States. Park argues that Kim harbors a fundamental distrust toward both Trump and the U.S., and is therefore lik...

Ho-ryong Lee, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA), identifies the contradiction between Trump’s personal diplomatic overtures and his administration’s formal denuclearization goals. The analysis reveals DPRK's tripartite approach to strengthening nuclear readiness—developing sea-based capabilities, enhanc...