United States of America

Trade ties between the United States and many East Asian countries have faced a high degree of uncertainty since Donald Trump took office in early 2017. The world is now…

During his visit to Asia in November 2017, President Donald Trump announced his vision of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” as the U.S. approach to the region. The Department of…

Beef trade was a major sticking point between the United States and South Korea in ratifying the KORUS FTA. The outcome of the renegotiations that led to the March 2018…

The sudden announcement of a North Korea-U.S. summit in March 2018 upended all previous diplomacy concerning North Korea’s nuclear program. In return for a bilateral presidential summit, Pyongyang has agreed…

This is the fifth in a 10 part series looking at how the issues identified in KEI’s annual “10 Issues to Watch for on the Korean Peninsula” series developed in 2021. The original “10 Issues” piece can be found here. The first year of the Biden administration has seen the U.S. return to multilateral frameworks…

This is the second in a 10 part series looking at how the issues identified in KEI’s annual “10 Issues to Watch for on the Korean Peninsula” series developed in 2021. The original “10 Issues” piece can be found here. Although it is commonly understood that the Biden Administration carried out a policy review regarding…

What Happened The U.S. government asked semiconductor manufacturers to voluntarily share their client list, inventory status, and other confidential information. This includes South Korean firms like Samsung and SK Hynix. South Korea is concerned that the request would reveal these firms’ trade secrets to rivals. Implications: South Korea approaches commercial engagement with trade partners with the assumption that their policymakers will look at…

Following its success in containing the early waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea hoped to be recognized as a global health leader. But a recent survey conducted by KEI and YouGov suggests that fewer Americans see South Korea as an ideal partner in global health challenges than they did in 2020 (52% in 2020 vs. 43…

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.