Korea, South

For understandable reasons, the international community has been focused on North Korea's nuclear program, concerned that Pyongyang could have a weapon capable of such massive destruction. But should they also…

Human rights in North Korea remains a divisive issue between the international community and North Korea. In 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council established Commission of Inquiry on Human…

  When Marja Vongerichten was 19, she met her birth mother for the first time since being adopted at age three. The first thing they bonded over, Marja says, was…

Born in Brooklyn, Chef Edward Lee always loved cooking. And after graduating from college with an English literature degree, he returned to that love and became an award-winning chef. Not…

South Korea stands out for its investments in innovation, notably high enrollment rates in tertiary education and large investments in research and development (R&D) and patents. Nevertheless, labor productivity (output per worker) in South Korea was 23 percent below the average among OECD countries in 2021. Strengthening the innovation ecosystem and boosting the return on…

Doctors’ strikes have made headlines and become a domestic political flash point in Korea, but they are only part of a global problem regarding medical training.  In 2024, junior doctors and interns went on strike in the United Kingdom and Kenya, while China’s Xinhua News Agency highlighted the need for medical education reform due to…

Two years into his tenure, President Yoon Suk Yeol seems proud of his efforts to realize his foreign policy vision. “The global pivotal state diplomacy that we have put into practice since the launch of this government has become the government's signature policy,” he told chiefs of missions during a banquet, according to the Yonhap…

The outcome of South Korea’s parliamentary elections seems undeniable. The opposition Democratic Party (DP) won a convincing victory and together with its progressive allies will hold a commanding 192-seat majority in the 300 seat National Assembly. Former DP presidential candidate and current party leader Lee Jae-myung is cemented, for now, as the likely presidential standard bearer when…

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.