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, Jenna Gibson, and Kyle Ferrier With summer already well underway, KEI staff members wanted to share a few books that are on our personal reading lists before autumn is on our doorstep! All books are in English and available in bookstores or online. Make sure to share your summer reading recommendations in…

By Nathaniel Curran The average South Korean receives approximately 20,000 hours of English instruction by the time they finish their education, and in 2013, Korea had an estimated 17,000 hagwons (private academies) teaching English. This means there are more English academies in Korea than McDonalds in the United States (impressive, considering that Korea’s population is…

By Troy Stangarone Since Moon Jae-in won the South Korean presidency in May, North Korea has conducted five missile tests. This is somewhat of a quickened pace of tests, with five tests in the four weeks of the Moon presidency, but not unprecedented by North Korean standards. North Korea conducted seven tests, for example, in…

By Kyle Ferrier China’s punitive economic measures against South Korea over THAAD may have shrouded Beijing-Seoul relations in uncertainty, yet they highlight Korea’s economic dependence on China. Throughout the extensive media coverage of impacted Korean companies as well as the regional geopolitical implications, particularly as they relate to the North Korean problem, is a common…

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