United States of America

On 1 April 2007 Korea and the United States finally completed their year-long negotiations to conclude the Korea- U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), which was then signed by the…

President Lee Myung-bak won a landslide victory in 2007. His popularity before the election was obvious, and it came as a surprise to almost no one that he won by…

The world can only hope the recent U.S.-North Korean bilateral discussions will revive the six-power talks and lead to Pyongyang’s renunciation of its nuclear weapons ambitions. Hope, however, is not…

This paper builds on Kiyota and Stern (2007), in which we analyzed the economic effects of a U.S.-Korea free trade agreement (KORUSFTA). In Section II, we review the objectives and…

By Phil Eskeland Seventh wedding anniversaries are oftentimes overlooked.  It is not as glamorous as a 25th silver or 50th golden anniversary.  Gifts associated with a seventh year wedding anniversary in the U.S. are items made either out of copper or wool; a far cry from precious stones linked with other momentous anniversaries.  Nevertheless, on…

By Robert R. King The North Korean Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Kim Song, last week made an urgent request on behalf of his government to the United Nations and its affiliated humanitarian agencies to provide food assistance to his country.  The request said the looming food crisis is the result of a…

By William Brown Some in Washington and elsewhere continue to think sanctions pressures are easing on North Korea, and that Marshal Kim heads into his second summit with President Trump in a strong position.  We face a lot of uncertainties when it comes to North Korea, but Kim is probably not going to Vietnam with the…

By Yea Ji Nam In December 2018, close to a hundred thousand taxi drivers took to the streets around the National Assembly to protest against the launch of a mobile ride-sharing service from Kakao Mobility. Amid these rolling protests, two elderly taxi drivers set themselves on fire to bring attention to the challenges facing Korea’s…

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.