Stanford University

International Relations

FSI researchers strive to understand how countries relate to one another, and what policies are needed to achieve global stability and prosperity. International relations experts focus on the challenging U.S.-Russian relationship, the alliance between the U.S. and Japan and the limitations of America’s counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

Foreign aid is also examined by scholars trying to understand whether money earmarked for health improvements reaches those who need it most. And FSI’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center has published on the need for strong South Korean leadership in dealing with its northern neighbor.

FSI researchers also look at the citizens who drive international relations, studying the effects of migration and how borders shape people’s lives. Meanwhile FSI students are very much involved in this area, working with the United Nations in Ethiopia to rethink refugee communities.

Trade is also a key component of international relations, with FSI approaching the topic from a slew of angles and states. The economy of trade is rife for study, with an APARC event on the implications of more open trade policies in Japan, and FSI researchers making sense of who would benefit from a free trade zone between the European Union and the United States.

How to Keep the Ball Rolling on North Korean Negotiations

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Gi-Wook Shin
Joyce Lee
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27 April 2019 marked the first anniversary of the historic Panmunjom summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean leader Moon Jae-in.

The meeting jumpstarted the whirlwind of North Korea’s summit diplomacy and prompted a new wave of hope that diplomacy could be effective after years of confrontation and tensions.

But the anniversary was marked with mixed messages and dissonant attitudes — it was celebrated by the South Koreans alone. North Korea remained unresponsive to the South’s invitation to the anniversary ceremony, and North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country openly demanded that the South explore ‘more active measures’ to improve inter-Korean ties. The inter-Korean rapprochement efforts borne out of Panmunjom are stranded by the stalemate on the nuclear track...

Read the full article on East Asia Forum

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) pose for photographs
PANMUNJOM, SOUTH KOREA - APRIL 27: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) pose for photographs after signing the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula during the Inter-Korean Summit at the Peace House on April 27, 2018 in Panmunjom, South Korea.
Korea Summit Press Pool/Getty Images
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Pacific Settlement of Disputes in East Asia: Inter-State Arbitration and Judicial Diplomacy

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Resolution of economic disputes are well established in East Asia where economic growth and prosperity are common goals among the nations. However, other types of disputes have long plagued among East Asian countries. These include conflicts that have deep historical roots, or ones that involve state sovereignty, territorial disputes, and claims deriving from historical wrongs. These issues have harmed the regional security in East Asia for a long time, threatened its peace and security and hindered further progress, thus putting tension on the diplomatic relations among the East Asian countries. Attempts to resolve these disputes via politics or diplomacy have not been much successful. Compliance of the outcome of the dispute might prove to be challenging if the losing party decides that the benefit of resisting the unfavored outcome outweighs the cost of reputational harm.

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Eun-Young Park will present that, despite the difficulty, such disputes can be resolved fairly, provided that an independent neutral dispute resolution mechanism is securely in place. In this model, the states themselves voluntarily submit their disputes to a neutral third party capable of making fair and equitable decisions on the merits of the cases before it. There are advantages in opting for the region-wide system of independent and neutral dispute resolution in handling the Gordian Knot that is the complex and difficult problem of sovereignty and history of conflicts in East Asia. He will explore the possibility of establishing an inter-state arbitration system based on the fact that the East Asian countries already possess a good deal of social and legal capital that is readily applicable in resolving sensitive transnational disputes. He will also touch upon a permanent arbitral or claims tribunal in East Asia to deal with claims arising out of the Korean Unification; a monumental event after which much chaos—legal and otherwise—will most certainly ensue. Establishing a system of international dispute resolution system in East Asia is certain to pave the way in forming the East Asian legal community in which claims and grievances may be adjudicated fairly and brought without escalating political tensions among countries.

Eun-Young Park is Vice President of the London Court of International Arbitration and currently a visiting scholar at Stanford Asia-Pacific Research Center. Previously, he served as a Judge in the Seoul District Court of Republic of Korea. After leaving the bench, he has advised Korean Financial Supervisory Commission in establishing governance system in the public and private sector under the auspices of the World Bank and the IMF as a result of IMF bail-out of Korea during the Asian Financial Crisis. He has practiced law at Kim & Chang as a partner and Co-Chair of the International Arbitration and Litigation Practice Group, and focused on international dispute resolution including trade sanctions, transnational litigation, and international arbitration. He has served as a board member of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and is currently a member of the Court of Arbitration of the SIAC. He has taught in various universities including Sungkyunkwan University School of Law as an adjunct professor. He holds a J.S.D. and L.L.M. from NYU School of Law, and is admitted to the New York Bar, the Korean Bar, and the Singapore International Commercial Court.

 

Eun Young Park Visiting Scholar, Shorenstein APARC, Stanford University
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North Korea in 2018: Kim’s Summit Diplomacy

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Kim Jong-un showcased a series of summit meetings throughout 2018, including the first-ever meeting of a North Korean leader with a sitting US president. North Korea improved its strained relations with China and South Korea. The country’s denuclearization has yet to be seen, but these events sparked considerable debate about the future.
 
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Authors
Gi-Wook Shin
Rennie Moon

North Korea: Five Numbers You Need to Know

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North Korea is the land of punditry, controversy and bad intelligence.  Policy debates swirl in Washington over how U.S. policy should address this foreign policy challenge.  Much of these debates is informed by a mix of opinion, ideology and politics.   How do we make sense of it all? Victor Cha and his Beyond Parallel microsite at CSIS try to cut through the noise to bring data to the study of North Korea and foreign policy.  He will discuss five data points that are critical to an understanding of the North Korea problem today and its policy challenges.

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Victor Cha holds the D.S. Song-KF Professorship in Government and International Affairs at Georgetown University. In 2009, he was also named as Senior Adviser for Asia and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He left the White House in 2007 after serving since 2004 as Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council.  At the White House, he was responsible primarily for Japan, the Korean peninsula, Australia/New Zealand and Pacific Island nation affairs.  Dr. Cha was also the Deputy Head of Delegation for the United States at the Six Party Talks in Beijing, and received two Outstanding Service commendations during his tenure at the NSC.  He is the author of five books, including the award-winning Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle (Stanford University Press) (winner of the 2000 Ohira Book Prize), and The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future (Harper Collins Ecco, 2012) which was selected by Foreign Affairs as a “Best Book on the Asia-Pacific for 2012.” His newest book is Powerplay: Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia (Princeton University Press, 2016). He has testified before Congress numerous times on Asian security issues.  In 2018, he joined NBC and MSNBC as a News Contributor.  Prior to joining NBC, he had been a guest analyst for various media including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, The Colbert Report, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Fox News, PBS, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, CNBC, BBC, and National Public Radio.  His op-eds have appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Foreign Policy, Japan Times, and Financial Times. He holds a B.A., an M.I.A., and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, as well as an M.A. from Oxford University.

 

 

 

 

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Encina Hall, 3rd Floor
616 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

Victor Cha <i>Professor of Government, Georgetown University</i>
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Video: KQED Newsroom Talks to Yong Suk Lee about the Trump-Kim Hanoi Summit

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Following the anticlimactic conclusion of the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi, KQED Newsroom spoke with our Korea Program Deputy Director Yong Suk Lee about the surprising outcome of the summit and what's next for U.S.-DPRK diplomacy. Watch: 
 
 

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Yong Suk Lee speaks with KQED Newsroom host Thuy Vu
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Video Interview with Koret Fellow Andray Abrahamian

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We sat down with our 2018-19 Koret Fellow in Korean Studies Andray Abrahamian to discuss North Korea denuclearization and the approaching Trump-Kim second summit in Hanoi; Abrahamian's work with the nonprofit organization Choson Exchange that took him to North Korea nearly thirty times; his book that compares North Korea and Myanmar; and his fellowship experience. Watch: 

 

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There’s a Silver Lining in the Clouds Over the North Korea Negotiations

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Andray Abrahamian
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The failure of high-level discussions may force Washington and Pyongyang to start more effective working-level talks.

HANOI—On Thursday afternoon, as it became clear that lunch between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump was off and that there would be no signing of an agreement between their two countries, storm clouds briefly gathered over Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi.
 
In the nearby Metropole hotel, the mood had darkened as well. The summit between the leaders was supposed to kick off a process of some form of denuclearization, through which the two countries would try to build a better relationship. Eventually, the sides hoped, zero-sum “I win, you lose” politics would be replaced by win-win cooperation. 
 
But the United States and North Korea couldn’t agree on the value of the Yongbyon nuclear complex. In a press conference that took the place of the scheduled lunch and signing, Trump said the North Koreans had wanted all sanctions lifted in return for the closure of Yongbyon. At midnight, North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho contradicted the U.S. president, saying that his team had only sought some sanctions relief as per five articles adopted by the United Nations Security Council in 2016 and 2017. A Trump administration official later confirmed that Ri’s description was more accurate. Regardless, the two sides couldn’t agree on the core issue, and the summit was abruptly adjourned.
 
Read the full article in Foreign Policy.
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Workers remove the U.S flag from a display that was erected for the DPRK-USA summit, ahead of the arrival of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Presidential Palace on March 1, 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam
Workers remove the U.S flag from a display that was erected for the DPRK-USA summit, ahead of the arrival of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Presidential Palace on March 1, 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Carl Court/Getty Images
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Why Walking Away from Kim's Deal May Have Been the Right Move

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Gi-Wook Shin
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President Trump caught the world by surprise once again yesterday with a decision not to sign a deal with his North Korean counterpart, Chairman Kim Jong-un, in Hanoi, Vietnam. While walking away is a common tactic in working-level negotiation, what happened in Hanoi was a rare case and the least expected outcome.

Read the full article on Axios.

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President Trump waves to camera at Hanoi Summit
President Trump at a news conference following his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Tuan Mark via Getty Images
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The Chemistry Between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un

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Yong Suk Lee
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Trump and Kim share a common desire for development.

At first glance U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un seem like an unlikely pair. A few years back they were calling each other “Rocket Man” and a “dotard,” and tension between the United States and North Korea was escalating rapidly in 2017. But in a few days they are slated to meet for the second time, and according to Trump they had “fallen in love” not long after their first encounter. What could have created such intimate bond between the two? The common interest that brings the two together is the desire for development — economic development in the case of Kim and property development in the case of Trump.

Read the full article on The Diplomat.

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President Trump and Chairman Ki talking during Sinapore Summit Official White House Photo
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Success of Second Trump-Kim Summit Will Lie in the Details

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Gi-Wook Shin
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This post was originally published on Axios.

While President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s June 2018 meeting ended with a broad statement — committing to “establish new U.S.-DPRK relations” for “a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula” — they will aim to take more concrete steps forward at their second summit in Hanoi this week.

Between the lines: To keep up the diplomatic momentum, Trump and Kim will need to minimize existing ambiguities and divergences on key issues — including the definition of denuclearization — and produce a comprehensive road map that lays out the specifics of their proclaimed shared vision. Without these agreements, the Hanoi summit could be easily denigrated as “just another show.”

Where it stands: Trump and Kim each face immense pressure, both international and domestic, to make progress.

  • Trump needs to earn political trust back in Washington to continue negotiating with North Korea. His strategy so far has been to convince Kim that North Korea’s denuclearization would bring the country a “bright future.”
  • At the same time, Trump must address Kim’s concerns about whether any agreement reached with his administration will withstand the Democrat-controlled House and survive the post-Trump era.

Between the lines: Successful diplomacy sometimes entails purposeful ambiguities, and the ambiguities of the first Trump-Kim summit might indeed have been strategic. At this critical juncture, however, a failure on Trump’s and Kim’s part to commit to defined objectives could hurt the bilateral relationship.

The bottom line: Trump and Kim need support more than ever to advance their diplomatic endeavors. While spectators have good reason to be skeptical, and one can only be cautiously hopeful with North Korea, a return to confrontation or "strategic patience" is in no one’s interest.

Gi-Wook Shin is the William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea and director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University.

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Banner welcoming Kim and Trump to Vietnam
A banner hung opposite the Marriott Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, where President Trump is expected to stay during his summit with Kim Jong-un, on Feb. 25.
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