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…

By Mark Tokola North Korea celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of its state on September 9 in a notably non-belligerent fashion.  Troops paraded, but no long-range missiles were displayed.  Apart from the parade, there was a traditional mass gymnastics performance at the May Day Stadium, and a “National Meeting,” at which the official…

By William B. Brown Let’s examine the North Korean economic scene in the hot Korean summer of 2018 to see if we can get hints at Kim Jong-un’s thinking on what arguably are the most important decisions the regime is making in decades.  Pundits will argue who is more pressed for time, Kim, South Korean…

by Phil Eskeland Earlier today, the Foreign Trade Division of the U.S. Census Bureau revealed the latest set of monthly trade statistics.  The September release of July trade figures gives an opportunity for a mid-year review on trends not only in goods, but also in services trade with all nations of the world, including South…

By Mark Tokola In the wake of the April 2018 inter-Korean summit in Panmunjom and the June U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore, there is renewed talk about whether it is time to announce an end to the Korean War by means of a peace declaration, peace regime, peace treaty, or by some other means.  There…

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.