KEI Contributor – Mark Tokola

KEI’s Vice President, Mark Tokola, joined the newly created Georgia State University Korea Task Force External Advisory Board. In this new role, Mr. Tokola will provide his expertise and counsel to…

On October 29, KEI hosted a panel discussion at the University of North Georgia (UNG) titled “US, Korea, and Security Concerns for Northeast Asia.” KEI was privileged to have the…

KEI's Mark Tokola was featured on the Voice of America video and article titled "KEI 부소장 '파울 석방과 미-북 관계 연계해선 안 돼'" Please click here to read the full…

Please find below articles on KEI's new Vice President Mark Tokola, who began his position on Monday, October 6. Yonhap News: Ex-US diplomat takes office as vice president of KEI…

Does the forty-fifth president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, have a foreign policy, not least of all inclusive of the vital Northeast Asian region? The question is not…

With an outbreak of diplomacy under way for the Korean Peninsula, a review of North Korea’s approach to negotiations is timely. A summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and…

For the proverbial visitor from Mars, the political situation in Northeast Asia is inexplicable. Sitting amidst a group of relatively stable, wealthy, and powerful countries, is a small, poor, belligerent…

Today’s relationship between the United States and China is more varied, complex, and cooperative than the accumulation of headlines would lead one to believe. The news media and commentators spotlight…

By Mark Tokola People who have worked on policy towards North Korea for some time often remark that nothing really changes: the DPRK’s weapons programs progress, gross human rights violations continue, bad crop years are met with international appeals for food assistance, acts of aggression against South Korea occur periodically, and North Korean propaganda threatens…

By Mark Tokola On June 17th, the Institute for Economics and Peace released its 2015 edition of the “Global Peace Index.”  This annual publication began in 2008, which makes it useful for tracking both global trends and individual country’s performances.  The headlines of the 2015 report are: (1) the averaged level of violence across the…

By Mark Tokola Ceremonies are being held in the UK to mark the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.  On June 15, 1215, in Runnymede, England, King John and a group of rebel barons agreed to a contract, drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury , that placed limits on the King’s power.  Historians will point…

By Mark Tokola When discussing what to do about North Korea, it is often suggested that China should do more to pressure North Korea to suspend its nuclear weapons program, stop military provocations, create a more constructive relationship with South Korea, and improve the lives of North Koreans.  Chinese representatives usually say this is exactly…