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 William B. Brown Consider this. In a well developing suburb of Pyongyang, households are no longer able to tap into the electric power grid for their meager, centrally planned, and virtually free allotments of electricity, in theory enough for lights or TV two or three hours a day. Instead, most have purchased small solar…

By Kylan Toohey On September 20, the leaders of the two Koreas made international headlines with their summit in Pyongyang. Amid high-level talks on heavy topics such as denuclearization, the conclusion of the Korean War, and reunification, there was one moment that held particular significance to the Korean audience that international observers may have missed:…

By Liberty Smith Calls to abolish the death penalty in South Korea are making headlines once again. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has formally called for the nation to join the coalition of OECD states in outlawing state-sanctioned executions. The government-mandated organization is working in conjunction with the Moon Jae-In administration to…

By Robert R. King We are at the peak of the annual hurricane season, and this year looks to be another painful reminder of Mother Nature’s power.  The Southeast United States has just seen one of the largest and most destructive hurricanes in recent memory.  In the Pacific hurricane Lane dropped record-breaking amounts rain on…

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.