In this Research Review, Ho-ryung Lee, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, states that South Korea faces complex and diverse challenges in establishing “nuclear-free peace on the Korean Peninsula.” In particular, the author notes that two Koreas lack a consensus on what constitutes a peace regime or treaty, as th...

In this research review, Hak-Jae Kim, Assistant Professor at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies of Seoul National University, discusses how public dissent on unification and the North Korea issue has stirred political conflict in South Korea. In particular, he notes that differences in perception on unification and North Korea are not ...

In this Research Review, Keum Soon Lee, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification examines how the North Korean human rights issue, which has emerged as a major threat to peace on the Korean peninsula along with North Korea’s nuclear proliferation, has become publicized in the international community. The article furt...

In this research review, Jaeyoung Hur, Assistant Professor at the Global Leaders College in Yonsei University, explains and evaluates the three dominant types of unification discourse (nationalistic, peace-centric, and pragmatic) in Korea and suggests an alternative model for unification. Unification discourse has been centered political decision-m...

In this commentary, Byung Kwang Park, Director of the Center for International Cooperation at the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS), writes on the impact the U.S.-China strategic competition has had on the two Koreas. Escalating tensions between the U.S. and China have not only aggravated political instability in East Asia, but also n...

Kim Yo-jong has risen as a key figure in North Korean leadership as Chairman Kim Jong-un’s strategic partner over the recent years. In this Research Review, Helene Kim, Visiting Researcher at the Reunification Institute of Ewha Womans University, analyzes Kim Yo-jong’s leadership through motive imagery analysis. The author claims that Kim Yo-jo...

The following Research Review contains a summary of a chapter from the book North Korean Women, Leading Change. In this Research Review, Mi-ju Kim, lecturer at the Department of North Korean Studies and a research fellow at the Institute for Unification Studies of Ewha Womans University, looks into the human rights infringements North Kore...

The following Research Review contains a summary of the article “Changes in North Korea’s Financial System During the Kim Jong Un Era: Based on North Korean Literature,” co-authored by Minjung Kim and Sung Min Moon of the Bank of Korea. In this Research Review, Minjung Kim, an economist in the Economic Research Institute at Bank of Korea, dis...

Although South Korean and North Korean comedies both originated from theatrical features of the Japanese colonial era, the two comedies have diverged into distinct forms of art after the Korean War. In this Special Report, Young Jeong Park, Adjunct Professor at the University of North Korean Studies, compares and contrasts comedies of the two Korea...

Notwithstanding an international ban on ballistic missile and nuclear weapons tests, Pyongyang has launched seven ballistic missiles since January 2022. In this Special Report, Cheol-Wun Jang, Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, lays out the status of North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and the implications ...