United States of America

2012 was a year of leadership transition in China and a presidential election in the United States. At the 18th Congress of China’s Communist Party in November, Hu Jintao passed…

The papers in this volume address some of the key issues that impacted Korea in 2012 and some important trends that will influence future policies. In the first year following…

Washington and Seoul are negotiating the replacement of their 1974 civil nuclear cooperation agreement that expires in March 2014. Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act (AEA) requires exports…

The 2012 electi on saw the rising prominence of Korean Americans as an increasingly visible force in U.S. politi cs. This paper discusses key features of the Korean American vote,…

By Troy Stangarone Last week we looked at the results of a recent BBC survey of international perceptions of South Korea’s influence. The same survey asked people around the world about North Korea as well and the one thing that really stands out is that no one, not one single respondent in Japan expressed a…

By Troy Stangarone Sleek. Trendy. Cutting edge. Creative. Elegant. And at times bold. All describe fashion in Korea. For Korea, fashion is very much a part of the culture. From a Korean-American colleague of mine who could go toe-to-toe with any of the world’s fashionistas to the trendy and hip fashions of the recent Yeosu…

By Chad O'Carroll With North Korea having conducted two long range rocket launches in a year, many analysts have been speculating as to why Pyongyang was so keen to try another launch just months after the last one ended in catastrophic failure. One straightforward theory suggests Pyongyang wants an inter-continental ballistic missile capability and that…

By Joyce YunSun Kang With “Gangnam style” now attracting over 650 million views, Psy (real name: Park Jae-sang) has done what no other South Korean singer has been able to do: successfully break into the mainstream U.S. market. But was this simply a YouTube video gone viral, or something else? Social media played a large…

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.