Digital Library

In April 2025, U.S. authorities issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) on salt from Taepyung Salt Farm, South Korea’s largest producer, citing concerns over forced labor and blocking its entry into the U.S. market. Months later, officials at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul reviewed allegations of exploitation involving intellectually disabled workers at a major salt…

The Ninth Congress of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party covered familiar ground this past week from its last gathering five years ago. Kim Jong Un proclaimed his goals of state-driven economic development, a military buildup focused on nuclear weapons, and his singular and unchallenged leadership. Even the message to the United States was not new:…

The Supreme Court’s ruling that President Donald Trump’s tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are unconstitutional is being read as a constraint on executive power. But the administration retains substantial authority to pursue aggressive trade policy through sections 122, 301, and 338, as well as non-tariff mechanisms such as quotas, licensing regimes,…

The Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), North Korea’s only political party and the ruling party, held its Ninth Party Congress in Pyongyang on February 19–23, 2026. The congress, held every five years for the past several decades, establishes the country’s direction and policy focus for the next five years. This year’s party congress established the…

The inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial was held in Washington, DC, on February 4, drawing significant attention to multilateral cooperation on securing mineral resources. The Donald Trump administration, which restructured the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) into the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE), proposed to the fifty-four participating countries and the European Commission the creation of…

In early February, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi led the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to a stunning victory in the House of Representatives. But her landslide victory can cut both ways, strengthening her hand on domestic policy while also freeing her to revisit conservative positions that have historically strained ties with South Korea. The LDP’s…

South Korea’s largest online retailer, Coupang, suffered a massive data breach last year that exposed the personal information of more than 33 million users. The breach triggered a sweeping response from the South Korean government, raising questions about jurisdiction, as Coupang is based in Seattle, Washington. This timeline tracks major public developments related to the…

On February 20, the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s ability to institute tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The official ruling indicated a lack of “clear congressional authorization to exercise” tariffs. IEEPA was the legal authority under which the Trump administration imposed 15 percent tariffs on South Korean imports as…