Korea, South

Public opinion can help to both shape and inform public policy. A president with strong approval numbers across ideological divides has significant scope to make policy decisions. While a national…

      Over the last decade, China has become an increasingly important country for South Korea has it has emerged as Seoul’s largest trading partner and a leading player…

    On April 8, North Korea withdrew all of its workers from the Kaesong Industrial Complex, temporarily placing on hold the last form of cooperation between North and South…

South Korea’s nuclear energy industry has for decades been facilitated through close cooperation with counterparts in the United States under what is known as a “123 Agreement”.  Today South Korea’s…

President Donald Trump said on February 18 that he intended to raise automobile tariffs on all U.S.  automobile imports. He followed through with this plan on March 26, announcing a 25 percent automobile tariff that took effect on April 2, making engines, transmissions, powertrain parts, and electrical components, as well as fully assembled cars, all…

On January 9, 2025, the United States and South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on principles of nuclear export and cooperation that could unlock new dimensions of the partnership and tens of billions of dollars in profit for construction and nuclear industries in both countries. In addition to its clear economic implications, the deal allows…

There appears to be a bright spot amid the global market turmoil after President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements on April 2. In the first-ever phone call between Trump and his acting South Korean counterpart, Han Duck-soo, the two leaders mentioned shipbuilding as a potential area of cooperation in the aftermath of the tariff…

The South Korean won has reached record lows against the U.S. dollar in recent days, just as heavy U.S. tariffs against what President Donald Trump says is an unsustainable South Korean trade surplus threaten the country’s exports. The issue, however, is not new. The won—now close to 1,500 to the dollar—was hit hard by the…

Please join KEI and KIEP for a discussion about the first 10 years of KORUS and the future of the U.S.-Korea economic relationship.