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 Mark Tokola When dealing with a country with a leadership that is as singularly top-down as North Korea, it is worthwhile to try to understand what makes their leader tick.  If we understood Kim Jong-un’s goals, preferences, and biases, we would be in a better position to understand whether negotiations on denuclearization are possible,…

By Jennifer Cho and Patrick Niceforo South Korea finished second overall with 50 medals at the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo and Obihiro, Japan. In 2018, South Korea will host the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and, according to Gracenote’s sports data, is predicted to place 8th overall with 10 medals. Below, find our list…

By Phil Eskeland Last week, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released the President’s National Trade Policy Agenda for 2017.  It should not be unexpected that the Trump Administration seeks a new approach on U.S. trade policy because it was a top tier issue on the presidential campaign trail, particularly for businessman Donald…

By Jenna Gibson After nearly nine months of suspicion and speculation about Chinese economic retaliation for South Korea’s decision to deploy THAAD, it seems Beijing has finally taken its gloves off. First, major Chinese streaming sites announced they would no longer add popular Korean content to their pages. Then, just a few days after Korean…

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.