The Korean Odyssey

  * North Korean Soldiers Are Marching Through Mansudae Plaza.   @iStock Il Young Jeong Research Professor_Institute of Social Science_Sogang University Recent media coverage has been dominated by reports of North Korea's dispatch of troops to Russia. In response, the South Korean government has hinted at the possibility of providing lethal weapons to Ukraine. The Yoon Suk-yeol administration in South Korea is currently facing a crisis, with public support plummeting to around 20%. From the perspective of the embattled Yoon administration, which is even facing discussions of impeachment, the news of North Korea's troop dispatch could be seen as a last-ditch lifeline for political survival. However, this move poses a dangerous gamble, jeopardizing the lives of South Korean citizens and potentially accelerating the downfall of the Yoon government. Why is this so?   North Korea's Participation in the Ukraine War Becomes a Reality On October 18, South Korea's National I...

Criticizing the Discussions on Korean Peninsula Unification  by Kim Jong-un, Yoon Suk-yeol, and Im Jong-seok * The Forgotten Dialogue Between North and South Korea: Is Unification an Impossible Dream?   @iStock Il Young Jeong Research Professor_Institute of Social Science_Sogang University There was a movie titled The Good, the Bad, the Weird , set in Manchuria during the Japanese colonial period. Recently, another trio has emerged on the Korean Peninsula: the dangerous one, the ignorant one, and the strange one. These terms refer to Kim Jong-un, Yoon Suk-yeol, and Im Jong-seok.  Kim Jong-un, the "Dangerous One“ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claims his development of nuclear weapons is for self-defense. However, he now threatens the people of South Korea, saying he could launch nuclear weapons toward the South. By denying the ethnic kinship between North and South and threatening peace on the Korean Peninsula, Kim Jong-un is indeed a “dangerous one.” Furthermore, Kim po...