SNS: Asia Letter Q4 2017: North Korea in the News, South Korea in a Bind

In This Issue
Week of 9/11/2017
Vol. 22 Issue 33

FEATURE: Asia Letter Q4 2017: Cyber North Korea in the News, South Korea in a Bind

• North Korea in the News
• Building Boom in Pyongyang
• South Korea Should Be So Lucky
• Squeezed on All Sides
• President Moon Supports the Northeast Asia Super-Grid
• The Chinese Navy in the Baltic Sea
• Syria Day Expo in Beijing
• Boris Down Under
• Other Things to Consider
• About Scott Foster

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Publisher’s Note: In this issue of the Asia Letter, Scott Foster again delivers what he seems best at: a pragmatic, smart, and surprising view of Asian plans and interests you will not have seen anywhere else.

In this case, the subject is the Koreas – specifically, North Korea. If you think you understand the DPRK because you’ve read Western media, get ready to start from scratch.

Having lived and worked in both Japan and South Korea, Scott paints a picture of NK this week which will seem as different as it is correct, for Western readers. How does China really play in this story? What is Russia’s role? Is there a US strategy, and if not, at what cost?

And, most important, is all the noise over nuclear weapons a sideshow to the realpolitik of new alliances, both economic and military, that are rapidly reshaping Asia?

For those members now aware of the new SNS-named CRINK alliance, get ready to add Syria to the moniker, even as China moves to work with Italy, and Greece, and Serbia, while Russia cements economic ties with a stressed South Korea —

It’s a different geopolitical world, and Scott has painted it clearly. – mra.