East Asia Compass by Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra
Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra
  • Understanding Pyongyang’s Belligerence towards Seoul
    Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra   ·    23 Jun, 2020   ·    5699
    On 16 June, North Korea blew up the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Gaeseong. This is being seen as symbolic of South Korea’s failure to engage North Korea over the past few years. Effectively, North Korea has walked out of all agreemen ...
  • What the Pandemic Looks Like in North Korea
    Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra   ·    27 May, 2020   ·    5693
    At a time when even the most resourceful countries have failed to keep themselves safe from the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea, despite its resource-scarcity, has reported no infections. Foreign nationals who work in the country have sai ...
  • Strange Bedfellows: COVID-19 and the New Japan-China Camaraderie
    Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra   ·    30 Apr, 2020   ·    5683
    The COVID-19 pandemic has led to fractures in bilateral relationships with China amid growing international condemnation of Beijing’s handling of the crisis, with one notable exception: Japan. Quite strangely, the crisis has bought abo ...
  • Responding to a Pandemic: Lessons from South Korea
    Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra   ·    31 Mar, 2020   ·    5670
    The COVID-19 pandemic has engulfed large parts of the world, and while unprecedented attempts have been made by several countries to mitigate the threat it poses to their populations, it has been nearly impossible to control the spread. ...
  • US, South Korea, and Japan: Recognising the Value of Alliances
    Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra   ·    28 Feb, 2020   ·    5653
    On 24 February 2020, South Korean Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo met his American counterpart, Secretary of Defence Mark Esper, in Washington. The meeting did not result in a breakthrough on the issue of cost-sharing for US troop pres ...
  • A New Phase in US-North Korean Denuclearisation Talks?
    Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra   ·    27 Jan, 2020   ·    5646
    North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, by recently replacing his foreign and defence ministers, has indicated his intent to take a tough stand on the issue of denuclearisation. On 18 and 22 January 2020, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho was replaced ...
  • Making Sense of China's Diplomatic Fig Leaf to South Korea
    Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra   ·    23 Dec, 2019   ·    5638
    China, after a period of bad blood with South Korea, appears to be offering a fig leaf to its neighbour. What is the background to this latest development, and what is in it for the China, as well as South Korea and the US, who are all s ...
  • South Korea’s Strategic Move on GSOMIA
    Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra   ·    19 Nov, 2019   ·    5631
    The military intelligence-sharing pact between South Korea and Japan, called the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), was given ‘provisional’ extension by South Korea only hours before it was to expire on 23 N ...
  • Japan's 2019 Defence White Paper and the Contest for Southeast Asia
    Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra   ·    16 Oct, 2019   ·    5625
    In Japan’s annual Defence White Paper released on 26 September, China’s growing military might has been given priority over North Korea’s belligerence as the country's main security threat. This is the first time Japan has so expli ...
  • US-North Korea Talks: Is Progress Without Reciprocity Possible?
    Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra   ·    12 Sep, 2019   ·    5619
    It is becoming obvious that unless the US provides some kind of security guarantee as well sanctions relief to North Korea, there will be no forward movement in US-North Korea denuclearisation talks. Despite open channels of communicatio ...
Other Articles by Dr Sandip Kumar Mishra