Konstantin Asmolov

It’s known that the former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died suddenly at his workplace on December 17, 2011. The man who had the difficult task of taking the country out of a difficult situation caused by a set of natural disasters and radical changes in the international environment, which the DPRK calls “the hard march.” Kim Jong il “took North Korea…

We have mentioned more than once how anti-Chinese sentiments are nurtured in today’s South Korea, and although according to conservative circles, Moon Jae-in’s administration pursues a pro-Beijing course, an incitement of hatred towards China comes not only from below but also from above. According to a joint survey conducted…

In the fall of 2021, the center-left pro-government South Korean newspaper Hankyore published an article titled Why South Korea Should Fear China’s Renewed Interest in the Korean War on a Chinese blockbuster film, The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, about the actions of Chinese volunteers in the winter of 1950…

Since the failure of February 2019’s summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, relations between the US and North Korea have been put on hold, with no active dialogue, but no nuclear crisis or military stand-off.  On the one hand, Pyongyang has avoided any talks on the question of denuclearization. On the other hand, it is still…

Anti-Pyongyang propaganda periodically delights the world with horror stories in the DPRK, which circulate well in the media and which now must be clarified. It happened twice in the second half of November. On November 16, Radio Free Asia, a private non-profit news service funded by the US government, told the world the heartbreaking story…

On November 23, 2021, Chun Doo-hwan, the most popularly disliked former president of the Republic of Korea, passed away as President of the so-called Fifth Republic from 1980 to 1988. Born in 1931 to a poor peasant family, Chun Doo-hwan entered the military academy in 1951. At the academy, he became friends with Roh Tae-woo, who later became his right-hand…

Moon Jae-in visited the Vatican on October 29, 2021, when he met Pope Francis to discuss the possibility of a visit by the pontiff to North Korea, saying the Koreans hope the visit will help strengthen peace on the Korean Peninsula. Pope Francis responded positively and said he was willing to make the trip if there was a formal offer from Pyongyang. The idea…

The author continues his series of articles on the presidential race in South Korea, as both camps have made up their minds as to the leading candidates. On 31 August 2021, the ruling Toburo Democratic Party launched a campaign to elect its candidate for the 2022 presidential election. 11 rounds of preliminary regional…

The economic interaction between the ROK and the PRC during the reviewed period represented several overlapping trends. On the one hand, Beijing continues to act against companies involved in deploying US missile defense in South Korea. It restrains the penetration of South Korean cultural content into the country (mainly as part…

The author continues to follow a serious scandal in South Korea that could affect the outcome of the March 2022 presidential election, as one of the potential figures in the case is Lee Jae-myung, the ruling Democratic presidential candidate. The fact is that a previously unknown firm, Hwacheon Daeyu, and its seven affiliates made more than 1,000 times their investment…

Unlike the relationship between China and North Korea, which demonstrates a long-standing traditional friendship, the situation with South Korea is more complicated. On the one hand, high-ranking officials of China openly criticize the policy of the ROK, thereby Seoul periodically starts to claim Beijing…

Much of the talk about how long the DPRK regime will last under sanctions and the country’s “self-isolation” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is rooted in the question of what role Beijing will play in supporting Pyongyang. In 2019, China accounted for about 95 per cent of North Korea’s total trade, according to the website North Korea in the World. According…