In September 2008, the international media started to report on the declining health of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il. Since that date, North Korea has undertaken a series of measures to demonstrate the health of Kim Jong-Il, yet at the same time has demonstrated signs that succession plans may be underway. In the context...

Summary The prospect of political change in North Korea is a recurring question, buoyed by media speculation regarding the health of the current leader, Kim Jong-Il, the dearth of information about his succession and concern for the potential instability that could occur. Australian interest stems from the possibility that political change in North Korea could...

International efforts to dismantle the nuclear program of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, hereafter North Korea, have been marked by limited and inconsistent engagement and distrust. One often-overlooked diplomatic process that has been continuous and has supported the development of greater trust is parliamentary diplomacy. Parliamentary diplomacy is best known as a process for...

International efforts to dismantle the nuclear program of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have been marked by limited and inconsistent engagement and distrust. One often overlooked diplomatic process that has been continuous and has supported the development of greater trust is parliamentary diplomacy, writes Jeffrey Robertson.

This paper addresses the question of whether the addition of the three new members represents the evolution of a regional collective identity, a calculated move to maximise advantage in the balance of power, or the will of domestic constituencies within existing member states.