South Korea

This article was published in The Diplomat on July 9, 2024. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s participation in ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of NATO this week is particularly timely,…

This article was published in The Asia Times on June 26, 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin has a very short list of countries on his list of available international travel…

This article was published in The Korea Times on June 12, 2024. In the wake of rapprochement between Korea and Japan, much of the focus has been on the strengthening…

This article was published in The Korea Times on April 10, 2024. In March, Russia vetoed a routine resolution to extend the mandate of the U.N. Panel of Experts. Moscow’s…

In his speech at a non-union auto workers' facility last week in lieu of a Republican debate performance, former President Donald Trump again made U.S.-Korea trade the focus of his protectionist rhetoric.  In outlining what he called his vision for the “revival of economic nationalism,” he boasted over what he believed was “saving American auto…

Two decades ago, South Korea was rarely called a middle power. Today, it invites ridicule to suggest South Korea is anything but a middle power. Given the concept’s ambiguity and lackluster academic credentials, why did the definition become so widely applied? The immediate answer is obvious. South Korea started to be labeled a middle power…

In celebrating seventy years of their security alliance, the United States and Korea exemplify the very best of what a robust economic partnership looks like. With terms like “friend-shoring” and “economic allies” increasingly making their way into beltway policy language, no reflection of the past seventy years of the U.S.-Korea alliance would be complete without…

There are a plethora of studies on South Korea as a middle power. Some argue Korea needs to change to fit the term, some reinvent the term to fit Korea, and still others just use the term without questioning. Very few ask why we bother at all. The modern term “middle power” is an historically…