Tumult in Asia

Guest: Kirk Larsen, PhD, History Professor, BYU; Mark Peterson, PhD, Professor of Korean Language and Culture, BYU Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is headed to China, South Korea and Japan for his first official trip to the region. It’ll take extra diplomacy on his part, coming at a time when South Korea’s president has just been ousted and the likely replacement doesn’t agree with many US policies in the region. Add to that North Korea’s escalating provocation, including numerous recent missile tests that have other countries in the region on edge. And China is particularly peeved right now that the US has begun installing an anti-missile system in South Korea, which is supposed to prevent against a North Korean nuclear attack, but which China sees as a threat to its dominance in the region.