Eastern Asia

Not only has the coronavirus pandemic become worse in Japan lately, but so have the new government’s territorial claims. As soon as Fumio Kishida, Japan’s new Prime Minister, took office in October, he hastened to announce a new round of the land of the rising sun’s territorial claims. As regional media outlets stress, Tokyo has become increasingly…

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…

One of the major events of current world politics was the November 16 virtual meeting of the two leading world powers, the USA and China. It lasted three and a half hours and went beyond the scheduled time. This fact along with the content of the issues discussed and the parties’ positions on them as outlined by the White House served as a basis for the Chinese Global Times…

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…

One of the overhyped events of recent times has been the 3+ hours of telephone conversation between the presidents of China and the United States of America Xi Jinping and Joe Biden respectively. There are two major reasons to doubt the sincerity of the Americans over their accounts of the meeting…

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…

The various developments accompanying the Taiwan issue, the most dangerous one on today’s political map of the world, require constant attention and as accurate a description as possible. That is, without distortion, and with the minimum author’s comments. Their simple chronological presentation speaks for itself. It depicts the relations between the two leading world powers…

Throughout 2021, Pyongyang and Beijing continued to actively demonstrate their long-standing traditional friendship by exchanging messages and holding ceremonial events. On February 19, it was reported that Pyongyang appointed Ri Ryong-nam, a former vice-premier in charge of trade…