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Relations between the two Koreas continue to be hostile, volatile and unpredictable with North Korea's nuclear issue remaining as untamed as ever. As such, there is a growing urgency for security cooperation in Northeast Asia to be given immediate attention. The key players in the region - the US, China, Japan and Russia - are keenly aware of the security threat of an armed clash between North and South Korea and are committed to denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. This book explores the domestic factors of the two Koreas and the four major powers that influence their security policies towards North Korea and Northeast Asia. This well thought out and consistently analysed volume has huge potential to frame the conversation on Northeast Asian relations in the coming years.

North Korea's testing of a nuclear bomb sent out a shock wave throughout the world and totally changed the strategic equation in the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia. This testing has far-reaching implications for Korean peace and unification, Northeast Asian security and America's global war on terrorism. This key volume provides an in-depth analysis of the inter-Korean and international dynamics of North Korea's nuclear crisis. It offers new insights into the six-party talks designed to resolve the crisis, suggests creative formulas to resolve the ongoing crisis through peaceful, diplomatic means and delves into the interests and policies of the major powers - the US, China, Japan and Russia - at the six-party negotiating table. The contributing authors are distinguished specialists and experts in the field and as such offer valuable expertise into the dynamics of this nuclear crisis for students and academics

A permanent peace regime on the Korean peninsula has yet to be achieved even though the Korean War came to a halt more than half a century ago. Without a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War, the two Korean states are technically still at war. The current situation on the Korean peninsula is extremely tense and precarious, and tensions and distrust between the two Koreas and between the U.S. and North Korea escalated in the wake of North Korea's second underground nuclear weapons testing in 2009. The editors of this volume conceptually present a two-track (inter-Korean and international) approach to Korean peninsula peace-regime building. They argue that an inter-Korean and international approach should be pursued simultaneously for the construction of a permanent peace regime on the Korean peninsula. The contributing authors are established specialists and experts on Korean foreign relations and Northeast Asian international relations. As natives of the U.S., Korea, China, and Japan, they provide objective, scholarly and diverse perspectives on the Korean peace regime building.

Both the Sunshine Policy of Kim Dae-jung and the Policy of Mutual Benefits and Common Prosperity of Lee Myung-bak were unsuccessful. The former failed to curb Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, and the latter failed to bring about stability and predictability to inter-Korean relations. This article begins with an examination of these two policies, followed by a critical assessment of them. The article then discusses Osgood's Graduated Reciprocation in Tension-reduction (GRIT) as the long-term strategy to dissipate military confrontation and distrust and to lay the foundation for peaceful coexistence and cooperation on the Korean peninsula. President Lee's current hard-line policy toward the North is too costly and dangerous. \"Militarization\" of the Republic of Korea's (ROK) North Korea policy may deter Pyongyang's further aggression; however, it may also lead to an accidental war that will inflict unacceptable damages and permanent scars on both Korean states. The ROK should begin GRIT toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as a long-term policy by taking unilateral initiatives and inviting reciprocation from the North, while safeguarding its own security and key interests. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

We wanted to evaluate the role of the arterial phase (AP) together with the portal venous phase (PP) scans in the diagnosis of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome (FHCS) with using computed tomography (CT). Twenty-five patients with FHCS and 25 women presenting with non-specifically diagnosed acute abdominal pain and who underwent biphasic CT examinations were evaluated. The AP scan included the upper abdomen, and the PP scan included the whole abdomen. Two radiologists blindly and retrospectively reviewed the PP scans first and then they reviewed the AP plus PP scans. The diagnostic accuracy of FHCS on each image set was compared for each reader by analyzing the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (Az). Weighted kappa (wk) statistics were used to measure the interobserver agreement for the presence of CT signs of the pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) on the PP images and FHCS as the diagnosis based on the increased perihepatic enhancement on both sets of images. The individual diagnostic accuracy of FHCS was higher on the biphasic images (Az = 0.905 and 0.942 for reader 1 and 2, respectively) than on the PP images alone (Az = 0.806 and 0.706, respectively). The interobserver agreement for the presence of PID on the PP images was moderate (wk = 0.530). The interobserver agreement for FHCS as the diagnosis was moderate on only the PP images (wk = 0.413), but it was substantial on the biphasic images (wk = 0.719). Inclusion of the AP scan is helpful to depict the increased perihepatic enhancement, and it improves the diagnostic accuracy of FHCS on CT.

This article examines the metamorphosis of Russia-North Korean relations from alienated allies to normal allies from 1991 to 2006. This research begins with a discussion of the distant relationship under Yeltsin and the normalized relationship under Putin. It then examines Russia's role in the midst of the North Korean nuclear crisis. This is followed by an analysis of Russia's saber-rattling in connection with North Korea's nuclear issue. By way of conclusion, this study makes a few observations on the current state and future prospects of the Russo-DPRK relations. After the implosion of the Soviet empire, the Russian Federation lost a global superpower status and has been groping to find a proper place in Northeast Asia as a great power. Even-handedness and balance now characterize Putin's Korea policy. With the convening of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear issue in August 2003, Russia was for the first time allowed to sit at a multinational negotiating table to discuss the North Korean question. Russia's role at the negotiating table has been marginal and its efforts for resolving North Korea's nuclear issue have focused on good offices and mediation. Adapted from the source document.

Although more than half a century has passed since the two Korean governments were established in 1948, the Korean peninsula is still divided between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Inter-Korean relations are still characterized by mutual distrust, animosity, a lack of mutual cooperation, and conflicting ideologies. The cold war continues on the Korean peninsula.

As the millennium approaches, South Korea faces a number of challenges in foreign affairs. How South Korea should manage reunification and what kind of security strategy a unified Korea should pursue are discussed.