Major Powers and the Korean Peninsula: Politics, Policies and Perspectives

Titli Basu

The Korean Peninsula, which constitutes one of the strategic pivots of Northeast Asian security, has remained a contested theatre for major powers. Denuclearisation of the Peninsula is unfolding as one of the most defining challenges in shaping regional security. The end state in the Peninsula and how it is to be realised is debated amongst the stakeholders. This book aims to situate some of the critical issues in the Korean theatre within the competing geopolitical interests, strategic choices and policy debates among the major powers. This volume is an endeavour to bring together leading Indian experts including former Indian ambassadors to the Republic of Korea, senior members from the defence and strategic community to analyse the developing situation in the Korean Peninsula.

Titli Basu Dr. Titli Basu is an Associate Fellow at IDSA. Her research interests include strategic affairs in East Asia, with particular focus on Japan and Korea.

Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Contributors
1. Introduction: Mapping the Korean Conundrum
Titli Basu

Part I: Politics and Policies in the Korean Peninsula

2. Is it Spring Time in the Korean Peninsula?
Vishnu Prakash

3. Proliferation and the Korean Peninsula: The Making of North Korea’s ‘Mature’ Nuclear Enterprise
Manpreet Sethi

4. Sanctions as an Instrument of Non-proliferation Policy:The North Korean Experience
Kapil Patil

5. North Korean Economy: Failure of UNSC Sanctions
N. Parthasarathi

6. Demilitarised Zone: Legacy of Status Quo
G.G. Dwivedi

Part II: Major Powers and the Korean Peninsula

7. The US Grand Strategy and Preference in Korean Peninsula
Namrata Goswami

8. Beijing and the House of Cards in the Korean Peninsula
Jagannath P. Panda

9. China-North Korea Military Relations
Mandip Singh

10. South Korea’s Approach to North Korea under President Moon Jae-in
Jojin V. John

11. Russia and the North Korean Challenge
Manabhanjan Meher

12. Rethinking Japan’s North Korea Strategy: In Cross-Currents between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump
Titli Basu

Part III: India and the Korean Peninsula

13. Korea in India’s Look and Act East Policy
Prashant Kumar Singh

14. India’s North Korea Relationship: A Case of Limited Aims and Strategic Calculations
M.S. Prathibha

Part IV: Beyond the Singapore Summit

15. Singapore to Hanoi: Southeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula
Anushree Chakraborty

16. The Denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula: Possible Outcomes of the US-North Korea Dialogue
Balachandran Gopalan and Jyotishman Bhagawati