United States of America

KEI recently completed its sixteenth annual Ambassadors’ Dialogue program (previously called the Korea Caravan), featuring Lee Tae-sik, the Republic of Korea’s Ambassador to the United States, and Alexander Vershbow, United…

May brought several significant developments for the KORUS FTA. On May 10, the Bush Administration and Congress announced an agreement on a new trade policy, focusing in particular on labor…

83/751. At press time, 83 days have passed since North Korea tested a nuclear device on October 9, 2006 and 751 days remain in the Bush Presidency. If the stalemate…

With negotiations running down to the wire, Korean and American negotiators announced that they reached a deal just before President George W. Bush’s trade promotion authority expired at 11:59 pm…

By Troy Stangarone With talks to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs stalled, South Korean President Moon Jae-in recently sent his national security advisor, Chung Eui-young, to North Korea to prepare for the upcoming inter-Korean summit and see if Chung could jumpstart the talks. While Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his commitment to denuclearization in…

By Kyle Ferrier There has been growing concern a gap is emerging between Washington and Seoul over relations with Pyongyang. Anxiety about a rift in the alliance seemed to grow after President Trump on Friday, August 31st cancelled Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s trip to Pyongyang on the following Sunday. A South Korean envoy subsequently…

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…

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.