Korea, North

In 2023, KEI has set out on its “Rethinking Korea initiative,” which explores the evolution of U.S.-Korea relations, Korea’s place in the world, and rapid changes in Korean society itself.…

You’ve probably heard the Korean War referred to as an unfinished conflict – but that’s not just a reference to the frozen war on the Peninsula. The sudden outbreak of…

We often talk about whether the sanctions against North Korea are working. And we have spoken occasionally on this very podcast about the ways North Korea also cheats and gets…

North Korea is putting on a tough face as the world confronts the COVID-19 pandemic. Authorities in Pyongyang continue to reassure the rest of the world that nothing is wrong…

By Caleb Cho In early June, a North Korean agent was arrested by Chinese authorities in Dandong, China, the largest border city facing North Korea, due to a number of fake 100 U.S. dollar bills exchanged for Chinese currency at two Chinese banks. The total amount of his deposit was reportedly $ 5 million worth,…

By William Brown Second quarter trade data recently released by China, and April and May data released by other major trading countries, suggest the March 2 UN sanctions are having little impact so far on North Korea’s economy although they may be making Pyongyang even more dependent on China.  Trade with countries except China seems…

By Phil Eskeland Last week, we looked at the Republican Party platform.  This week, the Democratic Party is meeting to nominate its candidate for president and vice president.  Part of the agenda for the convention includes formal approval of the party platform.  As mentioned in the previous post, candidates are not bound by the platform,…

By Jenna Gibson  Every language has "untranslatable words" - a word that perfectly encapsulates a feeling or situation which lacks an exact equivalent in other languages. German's "schadenfreude" famously describes the feeling of deriving pleasure from another person's pain. Korean has plenty of these words. Some commonly cited examples are 정 (jung), a deep love…

Please join KEI for a discussion on North Korea’s potential incorporation of AI into its cyber arsenal.