The political developments on the Korean Peninsula, which is situated, in fact, at the heart of North-East Asia, will largely determine the strategic situation in the Asia-Pacific region and globally. The monograph by Anatoly Torkunov, Georgy Toloraya and Ilya Diachkov “Modern Korea: The Metamorphosis of turbulent years” is aimed at the consideration of the situation on and around the Peninsula from 2008 to the present. The monograph explores several major interconnected subjects: the domestic processes in South and North Koreas, the North-South relations, the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula and attempts to tackle the problem, the prospects for the formation of a multilateral security architecture in Northeast Asia, as well as Russia’s policy on the Peninsula and Russia’s relations with each of the two Korean states. Although some of the authors’ conclusions can be argued, the book, on the one hand, distinguishes a sober and realistic analysis of the processes on the Korean Peninsula, and, on the other hand, a sense of geopolitical empathy, allowing a better understanding of the motives that pushed North Korea on the nuclear and missile path. The authors of the monograph propose a visionary ‘North Pacific Project’ – an institution of cooperation of key actors in Northeast Asia and the North Pacific, in which it would be possible to interact not only on nuclear strategic issues, but also on a wide range of problems.