Confronting Security Challenges on the Korean Peninsula: North Korea Military Threat, Human Rights Abuses, ROK-U.S. Military Alliance, Kim Regime, A.Q. Khan, Sinking of the Cheonan

The Korean Peninsula was and is in a state of flux. More than 60 years after the war that left the country divided, the policies and unpredictability of the North Korean regime, in conjunction with the U.S. alliance with South Korea and the involvement of China in the area, leave the situation there one of the most capricious on the globe. Confronting Security Challenges on the Korean Peninsula presents the opinions from experts on the subject matter from the policy, military, and academic communities. Drawn from talks at a conference at Marine Corps University, the papers explore the enduring security challenges, the state of existing political and military relationships, the economic implications of unification, and the human rights concerns within North and South Korea. They also reiterate the importance for the broader East Asia region of peaceful resolution of the Korean issues.

In this volume, our authors have given us several important theoretical frameworks, new concepts, and diverse perspectives regarding the security challenges that Washington and its allies now confront on the Korean Peninsula. Through their research and writing, our distinguished scholars, military officers, diplomats, and practitioners have made valuable contributions to the scholarship relating to the security and the stability of the Korean Peninsula, and the threats and challenges that are imminent for the future.

Chapter One - Transfer of Wartime Command—Some Personal Thoughts * Chapter Two - North Korea's Strategy of Compellence, Provocations, and the Northern Limit Line * Chapter Three - The ROK-U.S. Military Alliance: Transformation and Change * Chapter Four - The Lee Administration and Changes in ROK Strategic Culture * Chapter Five - The North Korean Military Threat * Chapter Six - Irregular Warfare on the Korean Peninsula * Chapter Seven - Understanding North Korea's Human Rights Abuses * Chapter Eight - Breaking Barriers: The Media War for North Korea * Chapter Nine - The "Faminist" State