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On August 24–26 new South Korean President Lee Jae Myung made his first official visit to the United States, meeting U.S. President Donald Trump and visiting the Hanwha Philly Shipyard to highlight U.S.-South Korea cooperation in the shipbuilding industry. For Trump, this was (ironically) the second time welcoming a progressive South Korean president to the…

Resource security has become increasingly important for economic stability and national security. The global economy is experiencing geopolitical instability, trade wars, and the weaponization of national resources. As an export-dependent economy, South Korea is particularly vulnerable. According to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), of Korea’s 12,586 total imported items in 2021, it relied on…

The first summit between President Donald J. Trump and President Lee Jae Myung on August 25 could be a clarion call for a new era of “future-oriented, comprehensive strategic alliance.” While the agenda announced by South Korea’s Office of the President indicates that the two leaders will discuss a broad range of topics related to…

The U.S. Department of State’s Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2024 was released on August 12. Coverage from journalists and human rights analysts was highly critical of the Donald Trump administration’s human rights efforts under the foreign policy leadership of Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “Rubio recasts long-held beliefs with cuts to…

South Korea’s newly elected President Lee Jae Myung will hold his first meeting with President Donald Trump on August 25 at the White House. Over the past eight months, President Trump has attempted to reframe the global economic and security order to an “America First” system with himself at the center through transactionalism, the unilateral…

Great attention in South Korea is rightfully focused on the high-stakes visit later this month of President Lee Jae Myung to Washington, DC. Worries about the future of alliance relations with the United States are growing, fed by the apparent readiness of President Donald Trump to abandon Ukraine and subordinate relations with Europe to those…

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s address commemorating the eightieth anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule marked a major attempt to define the foreign policy posture of his new administration. In his speech on August 15, the South Korean president articulated a forward-looking vision regarding trade and economic development. Lee was similarly positive…

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a radical approach in his efforts to transform the global economic and security order to align with the rhetoric of his first administration. In the meantime, South Korea has been embroiled in domestic political paralysis and a difficult power transition to progressive leadership in the aftermath of Yoon Suk…

The upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and newly elected South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is shaping up to be a crucial moment in the more than seventy-year-long alliance. The two leaders inked a vague agreement on trade and investment late last month, which appears to have opened the door to good relations,…