Over the coming decade, South Korea will face a set of strategic choices that are both regionally immediate and systemically transformative. Time is running out and South Korea cannot hedge forever. As the strategic environment evolves, the assumptions that have long underpinned analysis of South Korea—stability, alignment, and predictability—are becoming increasingly untenable. South Korea must choose. Will it turn? This analytical and informative study explores what transformation would look like for this country on Asia's geopolitical faultline.

Jeffrey Robertson is an academic, consultant, and writer based in Seoul, South Korea. Before academia, he worked for the Australian Government in the field of diplomacy, foreign policy, and North Asia. He has published widely on Korean affairs with a focus on South Korea's diplomatic practice. His core research interests include the diplomatic practice and foreign policy of middle powers with a focus on North Asia and the Korean Peninsula.