No. 56 – 20 February 2013

Dear friend

Our top article for this week’s newsletter is a part of AJA President Ivan Lim’s column. Through his column, we can see how issues in Northeast Asia not only affect the immediate region, but also have a deep influence on the ASEAN nations. Below is an excerpt from his column.

“It does not enhance the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s own security and threatens to destabilise the entire region to the detriment of all, including the DPRK itself,” Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said. Interestingly, the conventional way of responding to the North Korean nuclear threat is coming under challenge.

Taking a fresh line, political analyst Muthiah Alagappa, Tun Hussein chair in International Studies at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia argues that Pyongyang has a genuine security concern in seeking atomic weapons.

Unfortunately, the US and its allies as well as China had failed to address this fundamental issue, he said. The ‘military first’ communist state had paid a high price for it, having been isolated and slapped with sanctions that take a terrible toll on its citizens.

Efforts like the Six-Party talks had proved futile to roll back North Korea’s nuclear drive. “The world must now confront the reality of a nuclear North Korea,” Muthiah Alagappa said.

The East Asian region’s security is experiencing extremely turbulent times. On top of deep-rooted issues like territorial disputes and racial conflict, the North Korean nuclear crisis is heightening.

In the midst of these issues, the countries directly involved, Korea, China and Japan, all are experiencing leadership change and are finding their ways to new order. In commemoration of the new leadership of Korea, China and Japan, The AsiaN and Korea’s Northeast Asian History Foundation have planned a series of articles written by international specialists on solutions to the conflicts and pending issues of history in Northeast Asia. The series proposes insight, analysis and solutions from specialists and media personnel of different Asian nations about the pending issues in the region.

In this week’s newsletter, we have articles such as a column written by Professor Andrei Nikolaevich Lankov, a Russian specialist on North Korea who attended Kim Il-sung University, an interview with the Pakistani ambassador to Korea, etc.

May your days be filled with happiness until we meet next Wednesday.

February 20, 2013

Sincerely
Lee Sang-ki, CEO & Publisher of the AsiaN

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AsiaNWednesday 20 February 2013

No. 56

Asia News Opinion Focus Multimedia About Us Newsletter
Common Sense Approach to Conflicts in East Asia
Common Sense Approach to Conflicts in East Asia
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