China

As we approach the second US-DPRK Summit, the media in the United States is so focused on the dynamics between President Trump and Kim Jong-un that the interests and motivations…

President Donald Trump is off on his longest international trip yet, stopping in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. There, he is expected to tackle a range of…

For the first Korean Kontext podcast of 2017, five members of the KEI staff sat down with host Jenna Gibson for a chat about the volitility of 2016 and what…

In this episode, which originally aired in 2011, we hear from author Mike Kim, who speaks with Korean Kontext about his experiences living and working with North Korean refugees on…

By Mark Tokola The June 12 summit meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un was neither a triumph nor a defeat for the United States or North Korea.  Rather than reading the Joint Statement as a deal to be judged, it is more accurate to see it as a glimpse of a process.   In standard…

By Jenna Gibson The number of Chinese tourists arriving in South Korea in March and April has increased year-on-year for the first time since February 2017. Is this a sign of a return to normal economic relations between South Korea and China? Korean companies have been enduring a Chinese boycott of their products and services…

By Jenna Gibson After a sudden Chinese ban on waste and recycling imports threw countries around the world for a loop, the South Korean government is now scrambling to cut down on the amount of plastic waste that the country generates. Last fall, Beijing shocked the world when it announced that it would no longer…

By Jenna Gibson For the first time in years, young South Koreans are optimistic about their country’s economy – even though major economic issues have not gone away. In a new poll from Deloitte that asked regularly employed South Koreans born between 1983 and 1994 what they thought of their country’s economic outlook for this…

Please join KEI for a conversation with Markus Garlauskas and Axel Catellier on the factors driving South Korea’s recent military force development.