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By Anthony H. Cordesman with the assistance of Charles Ayers
The Burke Chair at CSIS has prepared the final version of an assessment of the military balance in Northeast Asia and the two Koreas. This major report or "web book" is entitled The Military Balance in the Koreas and Northeast Asia , and is available on the CSIS web site at http://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/170131_Northeast_Asia_Korea_Book.pdf?IH5xTmaHrldeYRY7U6oqllps9XkTiCH9.
The study is a web book that addresses the trends in North Korean and South Korean strategy, tactics, and force modernization in the broader context of security developments in Northeast Asia. It does so as a net assessment that does not chose a single view of developments in either country or neighboring states, and that compares the views and data in official Korean sources with those in official U.S., Japanese, and Chinese sources, and in the work of experts outside government sources. The analysis is supported by numerous maps, charts, and tables showing Chinese, U.S. and regional force trends.
The analysis is intended to support a dialogue between the Koreas, the United States, Japan, China, and other key Asian powers. All of these states face a critical need to improve their understanding of how the other states in Northeast Asia are developing military power, and a critical need to find ways to avoid the kind of military competition that could lead to rising tension or conflict.
Accordingly, this report focuses on the current developments in military strategy, forces, and modernization in the two Koreas, but does so in the broader context of how they are influencing U.S. strategy and force developments, and the reactions of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
A related study of the military balance in China is also available. The title is Chinese Strategy and Military Modernization, and it is available on the CSIS web site at https://www.csis.org/analysis/web-book-chinese-strategy-and-military-modernization.
The Table of Contents, and List of Figures, are shown below:
