In the culmination of weeks of growing tension in the region, the US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and a Navy carrier strike group is expected to arrive off the coast North Korea today, just as the reclusive nation celebrates the anniversary of its military’s founding.

Experts fear that Pyongyang may mark the occasion with a missile or nuclear test, and Chinese President Xi Jinping called US President Donald Trump on Monday to urge him to show restrain in the face of North Korean provocation. A day earlier, North Korea said it was prepared to bomb USS Carl Vinson.

Since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, tensions have ramped up on the Korean peninsula, largely due to a series of provocative actions by North Korea.

As unease builds, the country with the most at stake due to its proximity to its fraternal neighbour, South Korea, seems to be in the most hapless position. What then are the strategic options that South Korea potentially has to navigate its national security interests into the future?

… Bernard Loo Fook Weng, Associate Professor in Strategic Studies at RSIS, Nanyang Technological University