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 Eunjung Lim On April 13, 2016, the legislative election for the 20th National Assembly of South Korea (hereafter Korea) was held. Like many Korean dramas that have earned popularity across different continents, this election was full of dramatic turnovers that made Korea experts on the other side of the world, in Washington, D.C., surprised…

KEI Communications Director Jenna Gibson, host of Korean Kontext, recently interviewed Dr. Stephan Haggard of the University of California-San Diego on the North Korean economy, the role of black markets, and the potential impacts of new UN sanctions. The following is a partial transcript of that conversation. The rest of the conversation can be found…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz  February was another difficult month for inter-Korean relations. After a nuclear weapons test in January, North Korea then conducted a satellite launch that also served as a ballistic missile test. The Park Geun-hye administration in South Korea closed the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) in response, leaving no continuous projects or connections left…

By Thomas Lee With almost three months remaining before the 7th Korean Worker’s Party Plenum is scheduled to convene in May, South Korean intelligence sources state that North Korea appears to preparing for its fifth nuclear test. Although few if any signs of test preparations have been detected by satellite imagery, the recent experience with…

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.