United States of America

In the spring of 2009, North Korea’s second nuclear test, its long-range missile tests, and its provocative rhetoric once again threatened stability in Northeast Asia. Once again, North Korea engaged…

Two years and nine months have passed since Korea and the United States put their signatures on the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). Nei- ther Korea nor the United…

The relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea is unique; the challenges it faces are not. Next-generation views of the ties between Seoul and Washington do not…

As the U.S. economic crisis was just getting off the ground, many analysts claimed Asia would be relatively immune to the impact because its economies had “decoupled” from the United…

On Monday evening, President Donald Trump unveiled 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the United States, eliminating the exemptions that had allowed South Korea to export steel under a quota. Representing an opening salvo of second-term trade actions impacting Korea and other countries, the tariffs will deeply affect the United States’ ability…

On February 4, President Donald Trump issued another in the blizzard of his now familiar executive orders. Among those signed that day was one entitled “Withdrawing the United States from and Ending Funding to Certain United Nations Organizations and Reviewing United States Support to all United Nations Organizations.” The document specifies that the United States…

Hallyu (or Korean Wave) looks to continue its march onward in the Year of the Blue Snake. Netflix announced that the first five days of Squid Game Season 2 netted 68 million views, breaking the company’s previous first-week debut record set by Wednesday in 2022. Since its release on December 26, the show has already…

Major political developments at the end of 2024 have ushered in new unpredictability in the US-South Korea relationship for 2025. First came the re-election of Donald Trump in the United States, followed by dramatic events in South Korea that are still evolving after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived declaration of martial law. Deep political division…

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.