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I. Introduction Yu Jianrong, Research/Professor of Institute of Rural Development at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Yu Debao, Doctoral Student at Peking University, write, “In a time with so much social conflict, little contradictions can trigger mass unrest, affecting the whole society. If such incidents cannot be solved properly, both society and the […]

Deng Guosheng, Professor of School of Public Management and Policy at Tsinghua University, writes, “Surveys show that at present the Chinese people trust the government the most, followed by businesses, then civil society organizations Currently Chinese civil society organizations seriously lack credibility, which hinders their development. Assessments may be one of the most important means to restore public confidence in civil organizations.”

Tim Savage, Deputy Director of the Seoul Office of the Nautilus Institute, writes, “China and South Korea cannot meet in a smoke-filled room and decide the fate of North Korea. But the more they can overcome their own mutual distrust, the less likely it becomes that whatever does happen in North Korea will lead to a broader regional crisis.”

Marcus Noland, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, writes, “If fully realized, the Orascom venture would represent a major foreign investment in the North Korean economy… and in the context of generally favorable trends in external relations, a successful outcome could have a favorable knock-on precedential effect with respect to future infrastructural deals.”

Jia Xijin, Associate Professor at the NGO Research Center at Tsinghua University, and Zhao Yusi, Project Assistant of NGO Research Center at Tsinghua University, write, “Noting the tension between migrant workers and cities under the household registration system, civil society in China has worked to protect the basic rights of migrant workers and resolve the conflicts involved in their residence in cities to make the migrant population function more harmoniously during China’s urbanization process.”

Yongsheng Zhang, contributor to the East Asia Forum, writes “the most essential element for good economic performance is preventing governmental opportunism. To achieve this, the government needs to be limited by rule of law and civil society. A better institution for long-term economic prosperity can thus gradually evolve in a civil society.”

Peter M. Beck, Professor at American University in Washington, D.C. and Yonsei University in Seoul, notes “several suggestions that would greatly increase the chances of successful negotiations” with the DPRK including insisting “that any deal reached between Pyongyang and Washington incorporates improved North-South relations… If the North follows through with its threat to close border crossings between the two Koreas, it would completely undo the rapprochement of the past decade. Washington should make it clear that this is unacceptable.”

Read a discussion of this article here.

Wooksik Cheong, representative of Peace Network (www.peacekorea.org), writes, “Obama’s and Bush’s North Korean policies are very similar but have important differences. Lee’s and Bush’s North Korean polices differed greatly and did not go well together. Then, there should be much greater difference in Obama’s and Lee’s North Korea policies. Then what should be the future of the ROK-US alliance and cooperation on dealing with North Korean nuclear issues?”

John Feffer, the co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, writes, “We can’t simply buy North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, because it is inextricably connected to the country’s pride and the leadership’s survival. But if the United States endorses economic engagement with North Korea, the country and the leadership will, sooner or later, be able to uncouple pride and regime stability from the atom.”

Bruce Klingner, Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia in the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, writes, “More troubling, however, is a growing sense that Pyongyang’s obstructionist antics are not merely negotiating ploys but are instead designed to achieve international acquiescence to North Korea as a nuclear power. If that is the case, then it is prudent to begin contingency planning, including identifying financial sanctions that could be imposed against those companies and nations in violation of U.N. Resolution 1718.”