United States of America

Despite an historic delay and continued opposition in some quarters, passage of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) looks set to proceed quickly through the United States Congress. The…

KEI has bid farewell to 6 of its 9 family members this year. The faces and personalities are changing, but KEI’s commitment to excellence remains. We have a basic philosophy…

During the last two years ago, U.S.-South Korea relations have strengthened in ways that many Korea watchers did not expect. With a liberal President Barack Obama entering office, some feared…

Last year was a momentous year for the Korean Peninsula. As the world worked its way out of the global and financial crisis of 2008-2009, South Korea demonstrated its global…

By Gwanghyun Pyun Recently, the number of claw machines around downtown Seoul have greatly increased, especially in busy nightlife areas such as Sinchon, Hongdae and Gangnam. Unlike in the past when claw machines were scattered around the city’s sidewalks, the machines have become so popular that there are now shops that exclusively run claw machines…

By Jenna Gibson “Thank you, @Samsung! We would love to have you!” Donald Trump wrote on his personal Twitter account, linking to a story about a possible plan for the tech company to build a factory for home appliances in the United States. The article called the announcement by Samsung “A win-win,” saying that “Companies…

By Jenna Gibson Among the big Korean films of 2016, two of the biggest explored the colonial Japanese period, but they couldn’t be more different. Age of Shadows, a box office success, is a spy thriller that follows a Korean police captain-turned double agent who reluctantly works with the Korean resistance. The other, The Handmaiden,…

By Troy Stangarone As the Trump administration settles into Washington, DC, it inherits an alliance with South Korea that is not only in good shape, but that has been well run for nearly a decade now under both Republican and Democratic administrations. While the Trump administration inherits a solid base from which to begin its…

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.