Category: East Asia

North Korean troops are in Russia. Here’s why.

GET UP TO SPEED They’re already there. On Wednesday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed that North Korean troops are in Russia, backing up earlier reports from South Korean intelligence. This news came as Ukrainian intelligence officials warned that thousands of North Korean soldiers will soon be deployed to Kursk, near Russian territory that

Balancing a culture of secrecy and collaboration: Information sharing with hostage families

Hostage and wrongful detention cases remain a key US national security priority regardless of the fact that they represent a relatively small number of instances, as their impacts reverberate well beyond the hostage and their family. Countries like China, Russia, Iran, and Venezuela have adopted the practice of wrongful detention—hostage-taking by state actors—precisely because they

Cho quoted in the Diplomat on geopolitical tensions in East Asia

Original Source On July 18, IPSI nonresident senior fellow Sungmin Cho was quoted in the Diplomat regarding heightened geopolitical tensions in East Asia and the implications for South Korea. He emphasized the increased risk of unconventional action by an emboldened Kim Jong Un, such as terrorist attacks on South Korean infrastructure and civilians.  Fellow Sungmin

Kerg published in USNI Proceedings on Marine Corps posturing

ORIGINAL SOURCE IPSI nonresident fellow Brian Kerg published an article in the December 2023 issue of the US Naval Institute Proceedings magazine, titled “Put III MEF in a Fighting Stance.” Kerg wrote that the Marine Corps “can realign the posture of forces to that of a true, combat-credible, and ready-to-fight force” in order to better

Vladimir Putin’s anti-colonial posturing should not fool the Global South

The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has transformed the geopolitical landscape and led to a near complete rupture in the already rocky relationship between Moscow and the Western world. The Kremlin has sought to compensate for this loss by strengthening economic, security, and diplomatic ties with the Global South. In an apparent bid to provide