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KEI Communications Director Jenna Gibson, host of the KEI podcast Korean Kontext, recently interviewed Ambassador Joseph Yun, former U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy at the State Department. The following is a partial transcript of that conversation, which has been edited for space. The rest of the episode can be found here. Gibson: I…

By Seongjin James Ahn   Uncertain Times Ahead Due to its place in the global economy, it was inevitable that South Korea would feel the pinch of weakening global economic conditions. To say that the country is on the verge of a crisis would be going too far, but issues that have been brewing over…

Please join Tycho van der Hoog on why countries in southern Africa continue to engage with North Korea.

Please join KEI for a discussion of how North Korea is handling the outbreak of COVID-19 and how the international community could help.

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

Please join Gabriela Bernal for a discussion on what conditions Washington has been a facilitator or detractor of Seoul’s initiatives towards Pyongyang.

The conversation will be livestreamed on YouTube.

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.

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

Please join the Korea Economic Institute for a discussion with South Korea’s ambassador-at-large for economic cooperation Yoo Myung-hee and Asia Society Policy Institute Vice President Wendy Cutler on emerging trade issues and the U.S.-Korea economic relationship.

Please join KEI for a discussion with Ambassador Kim Hyoeun of the steps South Korea has taken to address climate change.

Please join the Korea Economic Institute for a discussion on the 2022 South Korean presidential election with political analyst Park Sung-min.

Please join Professor Zhiqun Zhu  for a discussion on how Seoul might best defend its own interests amid the growing U.S.-China rivalry.

As disruptions in supply chains continue, what practical steps can the U.S. and Korea take to strengthen supply chains against future crises?

Please join KEI for a discussion with three emerging experts on how South Korea can adopt a principled middle power agenda.

Please join KEI for a discussion on American attitudes towards the Korean Peninsula after the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Please join KEI for a discussion with Seoul National University Professor Chung Jae Ho on why the ROK-PRC relationship faces such headwinds and its implications for the ongoing U.S.-China competition.

Please join KEI for a conversation Mr. Kim Won-soo on the historical importance of two countries joining the UN, South Korea’s contribution to multilateral institutions, and the role of the UN in diplomacy with North Korea.

Please join KEI for a discussion with Dr. Naoko Aoki on how various factors have affected South Korea-Japan security cooperation.

Please join KEI for a discussion on how COVID-19 has affected the growing rivalry between the United States and China.

Please join KEI for a discussion on the proposal to declare an end to the Korean War and its prospective ramifications.

Please join us for a conversation with former U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Robert King on his new book.

Please join us for a conversation with experts from the UK, Korea, and the U.S. to discuss whether the G7 Summit achieved its goals.

Please join KEI for a discussion on the future of the trilateral alliance in Northeast Asia with Stanford University’s Daniel Sneider.

Please join KEI for a discussion of how to vaccinate North Korea with lecturer on Global Health at Harvard Medical School Kee B. Park.

A discussion on the summit outcomes and what they might mean for U.S.-Korea relations in the final year of President Moon’s term in office.

Please join us for a wide-ranging discussion about the potential and limitations of the UN, and the daunting challenges facing us now.

Please join us for two panel discussions on South Korea’s geopolitical outlook and its evolving security engagements with ASEAN nations.

Please join us for two panel discussions on South Korea’s geopolitical outlook and its evolving security engagements with ASEAN nations.

Please join KEI and KIEP for a discussion on the Biden administration’s trade policy and its outlook on supply chains, digital trade, and climate change.

Please join us for a discussion on what the THAAD dispute tells us about when public diplomacy and soft power does and does not work

Please join us for a discussion with NATO’s James Mackey on why the alliance is interested in building closer ties with Seoul.

Please join KEI for a discussion with former ROK Prime Minister Chung Un-chan on a sustainable economic future for South Korea.

Join us for a conversation with distinguished speakers from United States Department of State, Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the United States, and the Korean Economic Institute

Join KEI and Asia Foundation for a discussion on North Korean refugee entrepreneurs and their experiences and challenges.

Please join KEI for a discussion of these and other questions about the KBO and the Korean players in MLB. This event will be livestreamed on Zoom with an interactive Q&A session.

Please join us for a discussion of the OECD’s 2020 Economic Survey of Korea, how the Korean economy is weathering COVID-19, and how COVID-19 will impact Korea’s longer term efforts to address issues related to population aging, low productivity, and inclusive growth.

Shortly after the end of the Korean War in 1953 the United States and South Korea signed their Mutual Defense Treaty. On the 67th anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty, how does the American public view the alliance and the U.S.-Korea relationship today?

North Korea’s ballistic missile program has long been a concern for the United States, South Korea, and Japan. Foreign researchers have increasingly leveraged advanced open source intelligence and cooperated across countries to track the North’s developments over the last 25 years. But one country has been left out – China. Are there available, open source Chinese analyses of North Korean ballistic missiles, do they align with U.S. assessments, and is there anything researchers would gain from reading these analyses?

The onset of COVID-19 and the subsequent shortages of necessities such as personal protective equipment have raised questions about global values chains and the idea of just in time production. In response, the United States, Japan, and other governments have called for production to be re-shored to their domestic markets. However, global value chains were under pressure prior to COVID-19 from the U.S.-China trade war and other factors. Please join KEI and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy for a discussion of how COVID19, the U.S.-China trade war, and other factors will shape global value chains in East Asia.

There have been many discussions in Washington D.C. and elsewhere about whether sanctions against North Korea are effective, but fewer conversations on whether they are ethical. Filling this void, Professor Hazel Smith asks whether the means used by the United Nations to achieve denuclearization are justified by the international community’s desire for North Korea to dismantle its arsenal. She joins KEI for a conversation on this very question.

To mark the publication of KEI’s 31st volume of our Joint U.S.-Korea Academic Studies, please join us for a discussion of three distinct approaches to understanding perhaps the most consequential recent development in international affairs: the intensifying competition between the United States and China.

COVID-19 has become an unexpected variable in the U.S.-North Korea relationship. The virus has had a significant impact on both countries and may be one factor in North Korean reluctance to resume negations with the United States along with the impending U.S. presidential election. How should the United States manage North Korea policy prior to the election and after?

The division of the Korean Peninsula and the devastating war that followed displaced and separated millions of families. Even after 70 years, family separation remains as one of the most emotional and tragic legacies of the Korean War.With tight restrictions on foreign travel and communication in North Korea, separated families have limited ways to find and contact their families in the North. The sporadic government-sponsored reunions only occur when the political climate is in their favor. Even then, thousands of families, including the member of Korean diaspora in the United States, do not get to participate.

Social media platforms have helped both grow and bring together K-pop fans from across the world. In turn, this highly networked community engages in not only cultural diplomacy but also high-impact activism. As we speak, the K-pop fan community is playing an increasingly visible role in the movement for racial justice in the United States. While the community’s advocacy feels out of place for a group that is most closely associated with choreographed dances and catchy melodies, it may become a mainstay in the political landscape going forward.

As countries contain COVID-19 and restart their economies, attention will turn to the performance of existing international institutions during the crisis and how best to reform them. One suggested reform is to expand the G-7 to include South Korea and Australia, perhaps among other countries.

We are pleased to invite you to a coast-to-coast online event to remember the Korean War. Jointly sponsored with the Korean Consulate General in San Francisco and Ethnic Media Services, this event intends to bring together memories of this tragic conflict and provide a venue for the next generation to learn more about this “Forgotten War.”

The Korean War began on June 25, 1950 when North Korean People’s Army invaded the south across the 38th parallel. Although all the devasting battles took place on the Korean peninsula, the war had complex international dimensions beyond the two Koreas. It intensified and globalized the Cold War. In the continuing absence of a formal peace treaty, the Korean peninsula remains under an armistice today.

Russia is widely accused of employing a range of instruments—both overt and covert—to undermine Western unity. Though it has received less attention, Russia is also engaged in comparable activities to weaken U.S. alliances with South Korea and Japan. Overall, Moscow has achieved several tactical victories, but has yet to seriously damage U.S.-led alliance structures within the region. All the same, Seoul and Tokyo must remain watchful of Moscow’s activities, especially since there are signs of increased cooperation between Russia and China in exploiting wedge issues between the United States and its allies, thereby potentially combining China’s economic weight with Russia’s skills in influence operations.

Join us for a discussion on how policymakers should navigate the uncertainties in the post-pandemic new normal. What ends should they seek, particularly in regard to Northeast Asia? Dr. Eberstadt will join KEI Vice President Mark Tokola to expand on some of the key challenges he identified in a recent piece for NBR (You can find the article here).

Join us for a discussion of Korean perspectives on South Korea’s internationally praised response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the politics and priorities of the new National Assembly as Korea grapples with global economic uncertainty, worsening U.S.-China relations, and tensions in the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

Relations between Japan and South Korea were described during 2019 as being at their worst in the post-war era. History issues, trade issues, and popular sentiment combined to put the bilateral relationship into a downward spiral. Yet, the two democracies face similar challenges in dealing with the rise of China, the stubbornness of diplomacy with North Korea, and a now unpredictable United States. 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 55th anniversary of the normalization of relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea.