China

North Korea

Politics

Chinese Politburo Standing Committee member Zhao Leji will make a "goodwill visit" to North Korea from April 11-13 to "reflect the deep friendship between our two countries and the great importance China attaches to it," according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on April 9.

China, North Korea: Beijing Makes Highest-Level Visit to Pyongyang in Five Years

South Korea

Russia

Economics

South Korea’s coast guard detained an unflagged cargo ship with a Chinese captain and Chinese and Indonesian crew and docked it in Busan, South Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported on April 3.

South Korea: Coast Guard Detains Ship Suspected of North Korea-Russia Trade

Cuba

United States

Venezuela

Iran

Saudi Arabia

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

Environment, Science & Technology

Military & Security

Science & Technology

U.S. President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Feb. 28 directing the Justice Department to establish regulations that prevent countries of concern from exploiting sensitive U.S. data, the White House said in a fact sheet published the same day.

U.S.: Executive Order Will Task DOJ With Establishing Data Protection Regulations

Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told parliament that he is undertaking "various, concrete" efforts to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, The Mainichi Shimbun reported on Feb. 9.

Japan, North Korea: Tokyo Making Efforts To Hold Summit With Pyongyang

North Korea successfully tested submarine-launched cruise missiles, or SLCM, on Jan. 28, Reuters reported the next day.

North Korea: Pyongyang Claims Successful Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile Test

The Japanese government dispatched Taro Aso, a former prime minister and current vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, to the United States to meet with presidential hopeful Donald Trump, the South China Morning Post reported on Jan. 18. 

Japan, U.S.: Tokyo Reaches Out to Trump

North Korea says it successfully flight-tested a solid fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead, its first missile test of 2024, AP reported on Jan. 15.

North Korea: Pyongyang Launches Latest Missile Test, Moves to Formally Reclassify Seoul as Its 'Enemy'

North Korea fired roughly 200 artillery shells into a maritime border zone west of South Korea, causing evacuations of the meagerly populated South Korean islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong, Yonhap News Agency reported on Jan. 5.

North Korea, South Korea: Artillery Exchange Highlights Risk of Escalation

Assessments

Natsumi Sakai (C) of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan poses with others after receiving news that she won the by-election for the Tokyo No. 15 district seat for the lower house, in Tokyo, Japan, on April 28, 2024.

Recent by-elections reveal that a slush fund scandal is continuing to take its toll on Japan's ruling party, but Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to remain in power, for now.

By-Election Losses Shake Japan's Ruling Party, but Kishida Stays the Course

Columns

On Geopolitics

Australia

Fiji

Indonesia

New Zealand

Philippines

Singapore

Vietnam

United Kingdom

India

A 3D rendering of Southeast Asia from space at night with city lights showing Southeast Asian cities in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

U.S.-China Relations

In the Asia-Pacific, countries are increasingly pursuing complex networks of political, economic and defense ties as part of a burgeoning "multi-alignment" strategy that seeks to avoid U.S.-China strategic competition.

Examining 'Multi-Alignment' in the Asia-Pacific

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a spaceport in Russia's Far East, on Sept. 13, 2023. 

Kim Jong Un appears to be setting a new direction for his country's regional and international policies, clearly aware of the vast uncertainties facing the global geopolitical situation.

North Korea's Foreign Affairs Hit an Inflection Point

Media

Podcasts

Cyber

How will North Korea's cyber strategy continue to evolve?

Essential Geopolitics: An Update on North Korean Cyber Activity

Snapshots

A North Korean flag is seen fixed on a lamp post in the far-eastern Russian port of Vladivostok on April 25, 2019. 

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Access to North Korean weapons could help Moscow sustain its Ukraine invasion, while access to Russian imports and funding could help Pyongyang reduce its reliance on China.

What Russia and North Korea Stand to Gain From an Arms Deal

On Security

Ecuador

Mexico

Syria

Belgium

Netherlands

Seized marijuana bricks are incinerated in Guadalajara, Mexico.

While narco-states exist on a spectrum of severity, they can all have dramatic geopolitical, operational and tactical impacts that raise a wide variety of risks.

What Is a Narco-State, and Why Does It Matter?

A photo provided by the South Korean Defense Ministry on Nov. 9, 2022, shows the retrieved debris of a ballistic missile that North Korea recently fired across the two countries’ de facto maritime border. 

Its response to recent U.S.-South Korean military drills shows Pyongyang is growing more confident in its ability to manage escalation and reshape its own security environment.

The Implications of North Korea’s Shifting Deterrence Strategy

File footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen on a television screen at a train station in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 9, 2022. 

Seoul will likely react with its own show of force, but the risk of Chinese retaliation and restarting the Korean war will limit how far it can go. 

Gauging South Korea's Response to the North's Upcoming Nuclear Test

A Russian flag flies next to the U.S. Embassy building in Moscow, Russia, on March 18, 2021.

U.S.-Iran Relations

 In the second part of this series, we explore the risk of external meddling in next month's vote from actors like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

What to Expect From Disinformation Campaigns During the 2022 U.S. Midterms, Part 2

People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan. 20, 2022, after North Korea hinted it could resume nuclear and long-range weapons tests. 

Pyongyang's upcoming nuclear test is unlikely to fundamentally change regional security dynamics -- so long as it's in line with previous tests.

What to Expect as North Korea Restarts Nuclear Weapon Tests

Angola

Europe

Ukraine

Angolan President Joao Lourenco addresses MPLA supporters at an election rally July 23, 2022, in Luanda, Angola. Lourenco will face off against Adalberto Costa Junior of the opposition UNITA on Aug. 24. 

Social Issues

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Independence Day in Ukraine, Election Day in Angola

Poland

South Korean soldiers sit on a K2 tank in Pyeongtaek.

Warsaw's purchase of an estimated $15-20 billion worth of tanks, artillery and fighter jets will deepen Seoul's ties with NATO countries and cause concern with China and North Korea.

A Major Arms Deal With Poland Opens South Korea to More Business -- and Threats

<p>The Democratic People&#39;s Republic of Korea, or North Korea, lies on a peninsula extending outward from northeast Asia. The country borders China and Russia to the north, the Republic of Korea to the south, and Japan across the sea to the east. North Korea&#39;s primary geographic challenge is securing its northern and southern borders from the threat of its much larger regional neighbors. The Kaema Plateau and Hamgyong Mountains comprise much of the northern border region, providing a strong but not unbreachable geographic barrier. The Taebaeck Mountains run along the east coast, limiting the potential for invasion from the sea. Since the time of earlier North Korean kingdoms including Koguryo, The Dandong-Sinuiju gap across the Yalu River in the northwest and the wide Imjin-Han river valley in the south leave the country vulnerable, particularly with the lack of geographic barriers along the north-south axis. North Korea&#39;s mountains do provide ample hydropower, and the country also has numerous natural mineral resources and coal, but its terrain and climate limit agricultural activity. Given its larger neighbors, North Korea has two core imperatives. It must secure its southern and northern borders via political accommodation, defensive lines or outward expansion, and it must engender a strong sense of national unity and exploit differences among its neighbors to balance external political pressure. From the launching of the Korean War to the heavily fortified DMZ, from the exploitation of relations between China and Russia to the development of a nuclear deterrent, North Korea&#39;s actions in many ways are shaped by similar constraints and pressures as felt by its predecessor kingdoms due to its location and geography.</p>

SITUATION REPORTS

China, North Korea: Beijing Makes Highest-Level Visit to Pyongyang in Five Years

South Korea: Coast Guard Detains Ship Suspected of North Korea-Russia Trade

U.S.: Executive Order Will Task DOJ With Establishing Data Protection Regulations

Japan, North Korea: Tokyo Making Efforts To Hold Summit With Pyongyang

North Korea: Pyongyang Claims Successful Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile Test

Japan, U.S.: Tokyo Reaches Out to Trump

North Korea: Pyongyang Launches Latest Missile Test, Moves to Formally Reclassify Seoul as Its 'Enemy'

North Korea, South Korea: Artillery Exchange Highlights Risk of Escalation

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