Politics

The U.S. rebalance to Asia continues to stir debate in South Korea. This debate has thus far been carried out via the discussion of the political elite on what the…

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…

The Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI) is a regional cooperation mechanism among Republic of Korea, People’s Republic of China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and Russian Federation which is supported…

The North Korean government pursues illicit avenues to satiate the appetites of its top leaders, continue to develop Pyongyang’s weapons programs, obtain currency, and strengthen the elite’s allegiance to the…

Despite their record of advancing the U.S.-Korea alliance, South Korea’s progressive foreign policy posture has sometimes been caricatured as “anti-American.” In conjunction with the discussion on February 23, 2022, S. Nathan Park examines why this sentiment is prevalent in Washington D.C. In part one, he discussed how the U.S. policy circle’s close relationship with Korea’s…

What Happened The main opposition party candidate Yoon Seok-yeol promised to investigate the incumbent Moon administration’s “deeply-rooted evil” if elected. While the ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung criticized his opponent’s divisive pledge, news media focused on Lee’s support for the Moon administration’s investigations into previous governments. The opposition party long accused the Moon administration of…

This post was revised on August 21 , 2023 to reflect additional research by the authors. Additional analysis can be found in authors' article Political Polarization in Korea. Korea’s democracy is clearly a success story. Along with Taiwan, it is one of the few Asian countries that transitioned to democratic rule in the 1980s and…

As 2021 began, the world was still in the depths of the pandemic and vaccines to protect against COVID-19 were only beginning to become available to the public in a small number of countries. As 2022 begins, the pandemic continues to impact lives and economies around the world but there are signs of recovery. Among…