2021 in Review: South Korea’s Efforts to Navigate U.S.-China Competition
As U.S.-China competition remained unabated in 2021, South Korea continued to find itself navigating difficult waters in East Asia.
Academic Desires Conflict with Public Health Priorities
Value placed on education complicates enforcement of measures restricting people’s access to public places based on their vaccine status.
Public Health Policy Accommodate Foreign Relations
Seoul’s focus on managing relations with its principal partners can be seen in its response to demands from foreign nationals living in the country.
Fragmented Public Policy Response to Low Fertility
While the focus on child subsidies is not misplaced, the government may be missing the larger picture in its attempts to reverse the demographic decline.
Increasingly Gendered Framing of the Labor Market
The public response to the stabbing in Incheon highlights that the public increasingly sees social issues through the narrow lens of gender.
Will the Next President Climb the Mount of Distrust Between Korea and Japan?
Regardless of who the next Korean president is, he will have an opportunity to refocus the very critical relationship between Seoul and Tokyo.
Domestic Challenges and Attitudes Towards Foreign Nationals
Anxiety around rising property prices affects people’s attitudes towards Chinese nationals and their economic activities in Korea.
A Growing Workers’ Coalition
Workers of different South Korean industries are joining forces to protest shared concerns around increasingly difficult working conditions.
How to Build a Competitive Streaming Platform
Korea’s entertainment industry has to transition to becoming a platform that aggregates data but faces numerous challenges competing against foreign giants.
Sensitivity to Inequality Reflected in Academic Anxiety
Korean society’s anxiety over socioeconomic inequality comes through in concerns over a widening education attainment gap.