United States of America

Adhering to the action-for-action framework of the February 13, 2007 agreement, North Korea and the United States traded symbolic actions last week that grabbed the headlines—explosive video footage of North…

For Korea watchers—and particularly for those of us who worked closely on events associated with President Lee’s visit to Washington—April was a very rewarding month. After multiple protocol meetings, site…

KEI recently completed its seventeenth annual Ambassadors’ Dialogue program. The tour was the third featuring Lee Tae-sik, the Republic of Korea’s Ambassador to the United States, and Alexander Vershbow, United…

On September 20, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) released its report on the KORUS FTA. The ITC study is a required analysis under Trade Promotion Authority that explores the…

By Troy Stangarone In its first public response to North Korea’s suspected cyber attack on Sony, the Obama Administration announced new financial sanctions on three North Korean entities and ten individuals related to North Korea’s defense industry. While the sanctions may have some short-to-medium term impact on North Korea financially, they are only likely a…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz After the disappointment of not getting a high-level meeting following the Incheon Asian Games agreement, it looked like inter-Korean relations would remain stalled until 2015. However, South Korea preempted North Korea’s traditional New Year’s Day announcement by requesting an inter-Korean meeting early in 2015. The request helped the  Park Geun-hye administration seize…

By Troy Stangarone North Korea’s cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment and the subsequent threats to target theaters that screened “The Interview” have had a chilling effect beyond Sony’s decision not to release it on Christmas day. The decision to withdraw “The Interview” from release has raised important questions regarding freedom of speech and how…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz As October faded away, the hopes for an early November high-level meeting as promised after an inter-Korean meeting during the closing of the Asian Games faded as well when North Korea informed South Korea via fax that it would not meet due to the balloons being sent by South Korean activists into…

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.