• Date: May 26th, Tuesday, 2026, 15:00 – 17:00
• Location: Room 303, SNUAC (Bldg. 101)

Presenter: Jae-ho Jeong (Colonel)

Geopolitical competition surrounding Arctic shipping routes has emerged as a new security agenda in which the strategic interests of major powers—including the United States, Russia, and China—are increasingly colliding amid the accelerating melting of Arctic ice caused by climate change. This special lecture analyzes the geoeconomic value and military implications of the Arctic routes (the Northern Sea Route, the Northwest Passage, and the Transpolar Route) while systematically examining the international legal disputes surrounding them, including conflicting interpretations of UNCLOS and competing territorial claims, as well as the security dilemma structure among major powers. Furthermore, by discussing the crisis of multilateral governance within the Arctic Council and the opportunities for middle-power diplomacy, including South Korea’s potential participation in Arctic policy initiatives, the lecture comprehensively explores the strategic implications of the rapidly changing Arctic order for the security landscape of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.