38 NORTH SPECIAL REPORT - Risk Reduction and Crisis Management on the Korean

Rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait, strategic realignment in the Indo-Pacific, disputed claims in the South China Sea, the securitization of non-military issues in the competition between the US and China and military escalation on the Korean Peninsula all contribute to an increasingly competitive and unpredictable geopolitical situation. [...] The development is accompanied by strategic realignment in the Indo-Pacific and the securitization of non-military issues in the competition between the US and China. [...] The Korean Peninsula, an Arena of Global Tensions and Local Risks The nuclear issue continues to be a considerable source of uncertainty in the region, and the question of extended deterrence plays a prominent role in shaping the strategic environment in East Asia. [...] This toolbox of unconventional methods blurs the lines between the defensive and offensive, between the military and civilians and between the front and the rear. [...] Tensions escalated further following the deployment of a US nuclear-armed submarine to a South Korean port in July, as the DPRK defense minister warned the US that “the deployment of the strategic nuclear submarine…may fall under the conditions of the use of nuclear weapons.” In short, the Korean Peninsula is a prominent example of an area where high tensions significantly increase the risk of uni.