On Korea vol 7 provides great examples of the breadth and depth of issues centered on Korea and those that affect the U.S.-Korea alliance. These papers are original pieces written exclusively for this volume, and most of the authors also present their findings at KEI before a Washington, DC policy audience. KEI prepares each paper for publication and distributes it to more than 5,000 recipients in governments, the private sector, policy institutes, and educational communities around the world.

Economics is obviously a major focus at KEI, and the reader will note underlying economic themes in many of our papers. There are two papers dealing primarily with economic themes: Korea’s focus on building its “creative economy,” and the increasing problem of Korea’s large household debt. Moreover, Korea’s growth as a country and economy is seen in its desire to responsibly export nuclear technology and defense equipment. KEI was able to look at the nuclear issue further with a paper analyzing the dynamics with the U.S.-Korea civil nuclear cooperation agreement negotiations. In addition to these issues connected to economics, this publication also has two papers on security and diplomatic relations dealing with luxury goods in North Korea and comparing China-Taiwan relations and inter-Korea relations. All together, these reports make up this year’s fascinating On Korea volume, which we hope you will enjoy.