Ben Ascione
@benasci1.bsky.social
International Relations in the Asia-Pacific, Japanese foreign and security policy. Lecturer at GSAPS, Waseda University. Editorial board at East Asia Forum.
As Trump 2.0 hollows out US state capacity, the Asia Pacific must prepare for a world without US leadership
Want to read what I really think about the Trump administration and the Asia Pacific? Here you go. It’s a goddamn catastrophe for U.S. national interests and for the regional economic and diplomatic order.
A United States that is disintegrating and no longer a leader in Asia
As Trump 2.0 hollows out US state capacity, the Asia Pacific must prepare for a world without US leadership
eastasiaforum.org
November 3, 2025 at 3:05 AM
As Trump 2.0 hollows out US state capacity, the Asia Pacific must prepare for a world without US leadership
Our latest East Asia Forum editorial
Japan's political house of cards: PM Ishiba clings to power despite losing majorities in both houses. A fragile equilibrium emerges #JapanPolitics 🧵
eastasiaforum.org/2025/09/01/j...
Japan's political house of cards: PM Ishiba clings to power despite losing majorities in both houses. A fragile equilibrium emerges #JapanPolitics 🧵
eastasiaforum.org/2025/09/01/j...
Japan’s political house of cards
Japanese politics is locked in a stalemate, with the ruling party not strong enough to govern effectively and the opposition too weak to change the status quo
eastasiaforum.org
September 1, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Our latest East Asia Forum editorial
Japan's political house of cards: PM Ishiba clings to power despite losing majorities in both houses. A fragile equilibrium emerges #JapanPolitics 🧵
eastasiaforum.org/2025/09/01/j...
Japan's political house of cards: PM Ishiba clings to power despite losing majorities in both houses. A fragile equilibrium emerges #JapanPolitics 🧵
eastasiaforum.org/2025/09/01/j...
Trump is part of the problem rather than the reflexive solution to Australia's strategic and economic challenges. Australia should develop closer ties with regional neighbours and hedge between great powers rather than remain hostage to erratic US foreign policy
eastasiaforum.org/2025/07/09/t...
eastasiaforum.org/2025/07/09/t...
Trump’s America First leaves Australia behind
Australia has to face the possibility that the United States under Trump is part of the problem rather than the solution to Australia’s imagined strategic problems and economic future
eastasiaforum.org
July 9, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Trump is part of the problem rather than the reflexive solution to Australia's strategic and economic challenges. Australia should develop closer ties with regional neighbours and hedge between great powers rather than remain hostage to erratic US foreign policy
eastasiaforum.org/2025/07/09/t...
eastasiaforum.org/2025/07/09/t...
Reposted by Ben Ascione
a little late in getting out, but my latest, on the Korean election, for East Asia Forum.
eastasiaforum.org/2025/06/08/s...
eastasiaforum.org/2025/06/08/s...
South Koreans vote for democracy
While his victory in the presidential election is an immediate win for South Korean democracy, Lee Jae-myung must now confront both domestic and international political challenges
eastasiaforum.org
June 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM
a little late in getting out, but my latest, on the Korean election, for East Asia Forum.
eastasiaforum.org/2025/06/08/s...
eastasiaforum.org/2025/06/08/s...
The Constitutional Court’s verdict to impeach ROK President Yoon strengthens democratic stability and curbs overt political instability, but internal political struggles are far from over, writes Hannah Kim.
eastasiaforum.org/2025/04/11/y...
eastasiaforum.org/2025/04/11/y...
Yoon’s impeachment is just the start of stabilising South Korea’s democracy
Despite the Constitutional Court’s verdict strengthening democratic stability and curbing overt political instability, internal political struggles are far from over.
eastasiaforum.org
April 11, 2025 at 11:22 AM
The Constitutional Court’s verdict to impeach ROK President Yoon strengthens democratic stability and curbs overt political instability, but internal political struggles are far from over, writes Hannah Kim.
eastasiaforum.org/2025/04/11/y...
eastasiaforum.org/2025/04/11/y...
With the US making clear its desire to economically disengage from the world, the Asia-Pacific region needs to develop a collective response to a new wave of protectionism
eastasiaforum.org/2025/04/07/t...
eastasiaforum.org/2025/04/07/t...
The US spins out of control, into an economic world of its own
With the US making clear its desire to economically disengage from the world, the Asia-Pacific region needs to develop a collective response to a new wave of protectionism.
eastasiaforum.org
April 7, 2025 at 9:56 AM
With the US making clear its desire to economically disengage from the world, the Asia-Pacific region needs to develop a collective response to a new wave of protectionism
eastasiaforum.org/2025/04/07/t...
eastasiaforum.org/2025/04/07/t...
You might as well divide the numbers of apples in your kitchen by the number of bagels and use it to calculate your mortgage rate. To criticise [Trump's tariff calculations] on political or economic grounds is too generous. It operates below the level of rational thought.
inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...
inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/trumps-downfall-begins-now-paranoia-baseless-rage-3621228It’s
April 4, 2025 at 2:37 PM
You might as well divide the numbers of apples in your kitchen by the number of bagels and use it to calculate your mortgage rate. To criticise [Trump's tariff calculations] on political or economic grounds is too generous. It operates below the level of rational thought.
inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...
inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...
"Almost everything Mr Trump said this week—on history, economics and the technicalities of trade—was utterly deluded. His reading of history is upside down"
Donald Trump has committed the most profound, harmful and unnecessary economic error in the modern era. Almost everything he said—on history, economics and the technicalities of trade—was utterly deluded econ.st/3YbbFjq
April 4, 2025 at 2:31 PM
"Almost everything Mr Trump said this week—on history, economics and the technicalities of trade—was utterly deluded. His reading of history is upside down"
It is depressing how apt this is...
April 4, 2025 at 2:21 PM
It is depressing how apt this is...
Reposted by Ben Ascione
Incredible exclusive interview by South Korea's Chosun Ilbo (from Kyiv) of the two North Koreans captured in Kursk.
www.chosun.com/english/nort...
www.chosun.com/english/nort...
Exclusive: Captured North Korean soldiers speak out on deployment to Russia
Exclusive: Captured North Korean soldiers speak out on deployment to Russia
www.chosun.com
February 19, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Incredible exclusive interview by South Korea's Chosun Ilbo (from Kyiv) of the two North Koreans captured in Kursk.
www.chosun.com/english/nort...
www.chosun.com/english/nort...
Reposted by Ben Ascione
New, from me: as the Trump administration begins, I try to make sense of what, exactly, DOGE is.
Journalists and policymakers should be skeptical of its claim to be a govt reform commission, and more willing to see it as a form of oligarchic state capture.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/doge-dange...
Journalists and policymakers should be skeptical of its claim to be a govt reform commission, and more willing to see it as a form of oligarchic state capture.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/doge-dange...
DOGE: Dangerous Oligarchs Grab Everything
What Marc Andreessen revealed about the tech-industrial complex
donmoynihan.substack.com
January 20, 2025 at 1:39 AM
New, from me: as the Trump administration begins, I try to make sense of what, exactly, DOGE is.
Journalists and policymakers should be skeptical of its claim to be a govt reform commission, and more willing to see it as a form of oligarchic state capture.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/doge-dange...
Journalists and policymakers should be skeptical of its claim to be a govt reform commission, and more willing to see it as a form of oligarchic state capture.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/doge-dange...
Reposted by Ben Ascione
YOON ARRESTED. LATEST. AND MORE COMING SOON
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol arrested, investigators say, after hours-long standoff at residence
Impeached president detained over failed December martial law bid a month after a first attempt ended in stalemate
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2025 at 3:06 AM
YOON ARRESTED. LATEST. AND MORE COMING SOON
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
Reposted by Ben Ascione
Good quick over view of South Korea’s “imperial presidency,” what causes it, and why it must be reformed.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/s...
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/s...
South Korea’s Constitution Needs Fixing | by Yoon Young-kwan - Project Syndicate
Yoon Young-kwan argues that breaking the cycle of political crises will require some fundamental reforms.
www.project-syndicate.org
December 30, 2024 at 2:36 PM
Good quick over view of South Korea’s “imperial presidency,” what causes it, and why it must be reformed.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/s...
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/s...
Reposted by Ben Ascione
How South Korea’s president sealed his own downfall
How South Korea’s president sealed his own downfall
Yoon Suk Yeol’s party offered him the chance of a dignified exit but he chose to double down on his martial law gambit
* South Korean parliament votes to impeach president
* What happens next after vote to impeach South Korea’s president?
For…
www.theguardian.com
December 15, 2024 at 12:45 AM
How South Korea’s president sealed his own downfall
Reposted by Ben Ascione
1/ 🚨 Yoon is now out of office. What happens (or should happen) now? A thread.
www.ft.com/content/12c6...
www.ft.com/content/12c6...
South Korean president vows to ‘never give up’ after impeachment vote
Yoon Suk Yeol has been suspended in the wake of his failed attempt to impose martial law
www.ft.com
December 14, 2024 at 1:20 PM
1/ 🚨 Yoon is now out of office. What happens (or should happen) now? A thread.
www.ft.com/content/12c6...
www.ft.com/content/12c6...
Reposted by Ben Ascione
South Korea currently has a “Schrödinger’s President.” Yoon is either the president or not. Whether he holds presidential power can only be determined through impeachment.
December 10, 2024 at 2:14 AM
South Korea currently has a “Schrödinger’s President.” Yoon is either the president or not. Whether he holds presidential power can only be determined through impeachment.
Reposted by Ben Ascione
As we begin another day of political uncertainty in Seoul,
- It's still unclear who is running what in the country
- No details about any power sharing arrangement that allegedly exists
- We don't know the legal rationale for any such deal
- The presidential office has essentially gone dark
- It's still unclear who is running what in the country
- No details about any power sharing arrangement that allegedly exists
- We don't know the legal rationale for any such deal
- The presidential office has essentially gone dark
South Korea’s leadership unclear as Yoon struggles to retain power
South Korea’s defense ministry insisted that President Yoon Suk Yeol remained in charge of the country’s armed forces on Monday, even as the justice ministry enforced a travel ban against him followin...
www.voanews.com
December 9, 2024 at 10:37 PM
As we begin another day of political uncertainty in Seoul,
- It's still unclear who is running what in the country
- No details about any power sharing arrangement that allegedly exists
- We don't know the legal rationale for any such deal
- The presidential office has essentially gone dark
- It's still unclear who is running what in the country
- No details about any power sharing arrangement that allegedly exists
- We don't know the legal rationale for any such deal
- The presidential office has essentially gone dark
Reposted by Ben Ascione
573 political scientists in and out of Korea have written and signed a declaration calling for Yoon's immediate impeachment. I've translated it into English with Prof. Jeong Hyun Kim at Yonsei:
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
A Declaration of Political Scientists of South Korea
A Declaration by Political Scientists of South Korea Call for an Immediate Reintroduction and the Passage of the Impeachment Bill to Restore the Constitutional Order The emergency martial law declar...
docs.google.com
December 8, 2024 at 11:00 AM
573 political scientists in and out of Korea have written and signed a declaration calling for Yoon's immediate impeachment. I've translated it into English with Prof. Jeong Hyun Kim at Yonsei:
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Reposted by Ben Ascione
573 Korean political science scholars have issued a public statement declaring that Yoon's impeachment is the only way to resolve the current situation. They have 4 demands:
1. Resubmit an impeachment motion in the National Assembly
...
1. Resubmit an impeachment motion in the National Assembly
...
December 8, 2024 at 8:44 AM
573 Korean political science scholars have issued a public statement declaring that Yoon's impeachment is the only way to resolve the current situation. They have 4 demands:
1. Resubmit an impeachment motion in the National Assembly
...
1. Resubmit an impeachment motion in the National Assembly
...
Reposted by Ben Ascione
Wrong headline, NYT. Should read: Impeachment Vote Foiled by Boycott from Yoon's Allies.
Ruling party refused to hold the President accountable for what most South Koreans believe was an act of treason. That's the ruling party's failure -- not the opposition's.
Ruling party refused to hold the President accountable for what most South Koreans believe was an act of treason. That's the ruling party's failure -- not the opposition's.
December 7, 2024 at 1:49 PM
Wrong headline, NYT. Should read: Impeachment Vote Foiled by Boycott from Yoon's Allies.
Ruling party refused to hold the President accountable for what most South Koreans believe was an act of treason. That's the ruling party's failure -- not the opposition's.
Ruling party refused to hold the President accountable for what most South Koreans believe was an act of treason. That's the ruling party's failure -- not the opposition's.
Reposted by Ben Ascione
What is a self-coup? South Korea president’s attempt ended in failure − a notable exception in a growing global trend theconversation.com/what-is-a-se...
What is a self-coup? South Korea president’s attempt ended in failure − a notable exception in a growing global trend
There have been 46 attempted self-coups since the end of World War II – 80% have succeeded. So what went wrong for South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol?
theconversation.com
December 6, 2024 at 11:04 PM
What is a self-coup? South Korea president’s attempt ended in failure − a notable exception in a growing global trend theconversation.com/what-is-a-se...
"If the sudden declaration of martial law – the first order of its kind since the 1980s – was intended to restore his grip on power then it was a stunning error in political judgement.
The fact that it was blocked within hours is a testament to the robustness of South Korea’s young democracy."
The fact that it was blocked within hours is a testament to the robustness of South Korea’s young democracy."
Longer analysis of how South Korea’s political firestorm also revealed the strength of its democracy. Insights from Duyeon Kim, Leif-Eric Easley, @dpinkston.bsky.social
thenightly.com.au/politics/wor...
thenightly.com.au/politics/wor...
‘Political suicide’: South Korean leader seals his demise
President Yoon Suk Yeol conceded defeat before sunrise, but his drastic actions may have already sealed his own political downfall.
thenightly.com.au
December 4, 2024 at 9:04 AM
"If the sudden declaration of martial law – the first order of its kind since the 1980s – was intended to restore his grip on power then it was a stunning error in political judgement.
The fact that it was blocked within hours is a testament to the robustness of South Korea’s young democracy."
The fact that it was blocked within hours is a testament to the robustness of South Korea’s young democracy."
Reposted by Ben Ascione
Longer analysis of how South Korea’s political firestorm also revealed the strength of its democracy. Insights from Duyeon Kim, Leif-Eric Easley, @dpinkston.bsky.social
thenightly.com.au/politics/wor...
thenightly.com.au/politics/wor...
‘Political suicide’: South Korean leader seals his demise
President Yoon Suk Yeol conceded defeat before sunrise, but his drastic actions may have already sealed his own political downfall.
thenightly.com.au
December 4, 2024 at 8:16 AM
Longer analysis of how South Korea’s political firestorm also revealed the strength of its democracy. Insights from Duyeon Kim, Leif-Eric Easley, @dpinkston.bsky.social
thenightly.com.au/politics/wor...
thenightly.com.au/politics/wor...
Reposted by Ben Ascione
Entire South Korean Cabinet has resigned after all of Yoon's senior aides resigned earlier in the day. Yoon is almost completely alone now. Seems increasingly likely the pressure to resign may overcome him.
www.chosun.com/politics/pol...
www.chosun.com/politics/pol...
[속보] 국무위원 전원 사의 표명… 총리·여당·대통령실 2시 긴급 회동
속보 국무위원 전원 사의 표명 총리·여당·대통령실 2시 긴급 회동
www.chosun.com
December 4, 2024 at 4:21 AM
Entire South Korean Cabinet has resigned after all of Yoon's senior aides resigned earlier in the day. Yoon is almost completely alone now. Seems increasingly likely the pressure to resign may overcome him.
www.chosun.com/politics/pol...
www.chosun.com/politics/pol...