Introduction: A Paradigm Shift?The strategic environment surrounding the Korean Peninsula has fundamentally changed in at least three respects. First, North...
Read MoreEast Asian Affairs
The East Asian Affairs program analyzes political, strategic, and economic developments in East Asia, with particular attention to regional security, great power relations, and institutional cooperation. Key areas of focus include inter-Korean relations, China’s regional role, Japan’s security posture, and broader regional stability.
SIGA’s research seeks to provide nuanced perspectives on East Asia’s evolving regional order and its global implications.
North Korea’s Nuclear Expansion: A Growing Concern
The North Korean nuclear dossier is generating growing concern across the Western world and more recently Italy has expressed the...
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A Credible Deterrent Will Ensure Peace in
The history of Western and South Korean efforts to stop and eventually dismantle the North Korean programs aimed at creating...
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Stopping North Korea’s Nuclear Programme: Why It
A Harder Moment for the Korean PeninsulaPeace on the Korean Peninsula depends on one thing above all. North Korea has...
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The Voyage of PanStar Acro: Legal Challenges
The Importance of the Arctic Ocean and the PanStar Acro’s ChallengeAs Arctic glaciers rapidly melt due to climate change and...
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US-China Rivalry and the Future of AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly emerging as a defining arena of geopolitical competition. Beyond the race to develop advanced AI...
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Europe’s distinctive contribution to peace and security
Tensions continue to be high on the Korean Peninsula. The presence of large-scale military forces and nuclear weapons threatens regional...
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Engagement without Endangerment: Italy’s Indo-Pacific Turn and
Introduction: The Mediterranean Reaches the PacificIn 2024, the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour led a strike group on a 158-day deployment...
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When Digital Regulation Becomes a Trade Dispute:
IntroductionDigital regulation is increasingly becoming a trade issue between the United States and its major partners. Rules once discussed mainly...
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Interview with Bulgaria’s Ambassador to the Republic
Ambassador Petar Kraytchev has served as Bulgaria’s Ambassador to the Republic of Korea since April 2024. A career diplomat, he...
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Interview with European Union Ambassador Ambassador
Ambassador Ugo Astuto has served as the European Union Ambassador to the Republic of Korea since September 2025. A career...
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Canada’s Submarine Choice: What It Means for
On 6 July 2026, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) had been selected as...
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Turkish–Korean Ties Deepen in the Age of
Türkiye and South Korea have long described each other as “brother countries” due to their historical ties and shared memories....
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Korea Builds a Halal Export Strategy for
The rapid expansion of the Korean Wave has significantly increased global demand for Korean food products. Indonesia, as the world’s...
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South Korea’s Rise as a Global Defence
South Korea has become one of the world’s leading arms exporters. During 2021–25, it accounted for around 3 per cent...
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How K-Beauty Became a Global Export Power
In 2025, South Korea’s cosmetics exports reached a record $11.4 billion, making the country the world’s second-largest cosmetics exporter after...
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How South Korea Turned K-Pop into Economic
K-pop, once a niche domestic entertainment industry, has become one of South Korea’s most prominent cultural exports. Its economic impact...
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Beyond the Bloc: South Korea, France, and
South Korea’s foreign policy has long been shaped by a structural tension that no administration has fully resolved. The tension...
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K-Defense 2.0: Recasting Korea’s Arms-Export Strategy –
IntroductionOn 6 July 2026, at HMC Dockyard in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine...
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A Realistic Approach to the North Korean
North Korea’s withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of nuclear weapons in 2003 and its first nuclear test in...
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Managing Risk, Building Resilience: Korea-EU Cooperation in
In a globalized world with ever-increasing economic interdependence, economic ties have rapidly become yet another tool for states to further...
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The Significance of the Caspian Sea in
Competing Regional Visions around the CaspianKazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan: East-West ConnectivityFor much of the post-Soviet period, an implicit assumption existed...
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The Middle Corridor’s Decisive Decade and Azerbaijan’s
Over the past decade, Azerbaijan has turned its geography into a serious strategic asset. Sitting at the crossroads of Asia,...
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Pragmatism over Pivot: How South Korea’s New
The political crisis of December 2024 and the subsequent inauguration of President Lee Jae-myung in June 2025 constitute an inflection...
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Beyond Access and Security: Policy Acceptability in
Korea’s Arctic engagement has become increasingly visible in recent years. The passage of the Special Act on the Promotion of...
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South Korea and Arctic Shipping Routes: Energy
Introduction The rapid melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change is creating new possibilities for maritime transportation across...
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Bamboo Diplomacy, Amplified: Tô Lâm’s Middle-Power Signal
The opening session of the Shangri-La Dialogue on May 29, 2026, captured the central tension in Vietnam’s diplomacy. Tô Lâm,...
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Between Staying and Leaving: The Unfinished Journey
Beyond Recruitment: Korea’s Ambition to Attract and Retain Global TalentOver the past two decades, Korea has undergone a quiet but...
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Institutionalized Interdependence and Korea–Mongolia Cooperation in a
Geopolitical Transformation and the Emergence of Korea–Mongolia Strategic ConvergenceThe contemporary international order is increasingly characterized by intensified geopolitical competition, deepening...
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International Law as Strategic Infrastructure: Korea and
Middle Power Constraints and Korea’s Strategic Turn to South AsiaThe contemporary international order is increasingly shaped by intensifying geopolitical competition,...
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The Evolution of Azerbaijan–South Korea Energy Partnership
IntroductionAs global energy systems undergo rapid transformation driven by decarbonization pressures, technological innovation, and shifting geopolitical alignments, energy-producing states are...
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The Upcoming 11th Korea–EU Summit: Strategic Significance
The Strategic Significance of the Korea–EU SummitThe reality that yesterday’s allies are turning into today’s adversarial partners is emerging due...
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From Exports to Allied Industrial Capacity: The
Introduction: Beyond the Arms Export StoryKorea’s defense industry has spent the past three years moving from being a notable arms...
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Constructive U.S.–China Engagement with North Korea as
Beyond the Denuclearization–Engagement BinarySouth Korea’s diplomacy toward North Korea has long been trapped between two familiar but insufficient choices. One...
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Rethinking Social Security Cooperation in Italy–South Korea
IntroductionBilateral social security agreements are essential in today’s globalized world to guarantee expatriates’ welfare, facilitate international labor mobility, and promote...
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Can Middle Powers survive the U.S.-China Crossfire?
The Myth of the Multipolar Buffer in a Bipolar RealityFor a diverse, geographically dispersed array of middle powers spanning from...
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Beyond the Factory Model: Korea, Vietnam, and
President Lee Jae-myung’s April 2026 state visit to Vietnam was framed by a rare symmetry of diplomatic timing. General Secretary...
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Japan’s China Policy Shift Under the Takaichi
The release of Japan’s 2026 Diplomatic Bluebook and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s subsequent declaration on constitutional revision represent more than...
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Deepening the Korea–Bulgaria Strategic Value Alliance amid
IntroductionAs Korea and Bulgaria mark the 36th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2026, their bilateral ties are entering a new...
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Digital Regulation Between Allies: South Korea– EU
Introduction: The Geopolitics of Digital RegulationThe politics of digital regulation has become one of the clearest examples of how economics,...
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President Trump’s Squid Game: The Korean Nuclear
IntroductionThe Korean nuclear debate has been among the hidden political taboos in the Korean political agenda and inter-Korean relations for...
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Beyond Deadlock: Environmental Cooperation as a Pragmatic
Cooperation in an Age of TensionThe Korean Peninsula today is defined by a paradox. Political and military tensions remain deeply...
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Reimagining European Studies in Korea: Lessons from
The Evolution of European Studies in Korea: From Regional Studies to Multidisciplinary Expansion European Studies in Korea has undergone a...
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Recalibrating Strategy: The Rise of Korea’s Global
Korea’s Expanding Global Profile: Economic, Military, and Technological Dimensions In the context of rapidly shifting global dynamics, Korea has emerged...
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Imperial Expansion and the Formation of Treaty-Based
From the fifteenth century onward, European maritime expansion fundamentally transformed Southeast Asia into a crucial node of global trade linking...
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South Korea’s Harder Line on Israel Amid
A new diplomatic tension has emerged between South Korea and Israel in recent days. It began after President Lee Jae-myung...
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Legal Approaches to Multiculturalism in Korea: Domestic
The Characteristic Points of the Multiculturalism in Korea Korean society is currently undergoing a transition toward multiculturalism, despite its long-standing...
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The Evolution of International Legal Relations between
Expanding Legal Relations in a Changing International Order Over the past several decades, the relationship between the Republic of Korea...
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Shifting Global Security and the Strategic Imperatives
The global security order in 2026 looks nothing like it did even two years ago. When the U.S. and Israel...
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New Korea-India Relations: Strategic Investment as Absolute
The future of South Korea–India relations will depend less on diplomatic rhetoric than on the political economy of investment. For...
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North Korea’s Nuclear Issue and the Lee
South Korea has a new president openly willing to talk to North Korea. The United States has a president who...
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South Korea–Italy Relations in a New Era:
While the eyes of the world are on turmoil in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, and on Russia’s...
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The Laws for Content Promotion by the
The Rise of Cultural Content as StrategyThe global cultural content industry has undergone a profound transformation over the past few...
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The United States tells China to kick
The United States is seeking to diversify its supply chain for critical minerals and reduce its dependence on China by...
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Pragmatism without Illusions: South Korea’s North Korea
Introduction: Managing Risk in an Unstable Environment The contemporary international environment is characterized by the simultaneous coexistence of strategic calculation...
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NATO–IP4 Cooperation and European Dynamics: Korea’s Emerging
Introduction: A Shifting Security Landscape Since 2022, the international security environment has undergone a structural transformation. The war in Ukraine...
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South Korea Establishes a Transformative Urban Strategy
Introduction: From Contractor to Architect Central Asia’s contemporary geopolitical architecture is evolving beyond its historical characterization as merely an arena...
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Kaesong: The Experiment That Did Not Fail
Introduction: From Contractor to Architect When the Kaesong Industrial Complex was shut down in February 2016, it was widely described...
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