Brent Scowcroft Center Associate Director Alex Ward writes for The National Interest on how the relative regional stability in northeast Asia today could change quickly:

At times of global instability, the places where things remain calm stand out. That is the case with northeast Asia, the area primarily comprised of China, Japan, parts of Russia and the two Koreas. Due to the generosity of the Korean Economic Institute and Korea Foundation, I had the chance recently to travel to Seoul to partake in multiple meetings with government officials, journalists and other experts to learn about what is happening in the region.

South Korea finds itself in an interesting position. It relishes its role as a staunch U.S. ally, yet it also feels compelled to play a dual game of being nice to both Beijing and Washington. It was stressed during my visit that any attention Park Geun-hye’sgovernment pays to China should not be viewed as America “losing” South Korea.

Read the full article here.