U.S.-ROK Alliance: Enduring through the Leadership Transition

By J. James Kim

J. James KIM is the director of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies (Washington, DC) and research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies (Seoul). He is also an adjunct lecturer in the SIPA Executive Master of Public Administration program at Columbia University. Previously, he was an assistant professor of political science at the California State Polytechnic University (Pomona).

Historically, South Korea’s geographical position among larger and—in the case of its neighbor to the north—adversarial countries has placed it in a precarious foreign policy situation. This has been compounded by the recent impeachment of President Park Geun Hye at a time when North Korea has advanced its nuclear and missile programs and the leadership transition of its strongest ally, the United States. The Cipher Brief spoke with Dr. James Kim, director of the Asan Institute’s Washington office, to learn more about how South Korea is managing its foreign policy under such trying circumstances.

The Cipher Brief: How has (or potentially how could) the impeachment of Park Geun Hye affect some of South Korea’s foreign policy initiatives?

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