Introduction: A Paradigm Shift?The strategic environment surrounding the Korean Peninsula has fundamentally changed in at least three respects. First, North Korea has moved beyond the earlier denuclearization framework by institutionalizing nuclear weapons as a permanent component of state security. Second,
The North Korean nuclear dossier is generating growing concern across the Western world and more recently Italy has expressed the urgency of containing the threat, not merely at the rhetorical level, but also through a pragmatic approach. The Pyongyang government
The history of Western and South Korean efforts to stop and eventually dismantle the North Korean programs aimed at creating a nuclear weapons arsenal demonstrates the triumph of unwarranted hope over experience. Indeed, the history of many diplomatic efforts aimed
A Harder Moment for the Korean PeninsulaPeace on the Korean Peninsula depends on one thing above all. North Korea has to stop building nuclear weapons. That was true thirty years ago and it is still true today. What has changed
Tensions continue to be high on the Korean Peninsula. The presence of large-scale military forces and nuclear weapons threatens regional peace and stability. In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the active involvement of North
Introduction: The Mediterranean Reaches the PacificIn 2024, the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour led a strike group on a 158-day deployment across the Indian and Pacific Oceans — the most visible sign yet that a country long anchored in the Euro-Mediterranean
IntroductionDigital regulation is increasingly becoming a trade issue between the United States and its major partners. Rules once discussed mainly in terms of competition, consumer protection, privacy, or telecommunications policy are now being examined in Washington for their effects on
Ambassador Petar Kraytchev has served as Bulgaria’s Ambassador to the Republic of Korea since April 2024. A career diplomat, he has held a range of senior positions at the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Director of the Americas Directorate,
Ambassador Ugo Astuto has served as the European Union Ambassador to the Republic of Korea since September 2025. A career diplomat, he joined the Italian Diplomatic Service in 1991 and has extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy and Asian affairs. He
South Korea’s foreign policy has long been shaped by a structural tension that no administration has fully resolved. The tension is known as the imperative of maintaining the US-ROK alliance as the foundation of national security, and the equally pressing