The United States and South Korea are too close for either's good.
South Korea's new president will break with the hard-line approach of Lee Myung-bak.
China won't risk pressuring North Korea unless it fears Japan and South Korea might develop bombs of their own.
The industrial area shared with the North is a source of hard currency for a nation that threatens it.
Sustained diplomacy and political rebalancing may not succeed, but they are preferable to more escalation.
The relationship creates risks for the United States while eroding South Korea's sovereignty.
Limits on Seoul's ballistic missile capabilities leave it less able to deter its neighbors, forcing Washington to take a bigger role.
Asia’s four pillars of stability, bulwarks of a highly successful regional system crafted and fostered by America, are all crumbling. The region’s future will be shaped and defined by the struggle to replace those pillars.
Despite the controversial satellite launch, Kim Jong-un is hinting at economic reform and rapprochement with Washington and its allies.
This troubled region will be the greatest test of American strategic thinking and resolve.
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