Asia

Just a few decades ago, South Korea had much in common with many African states as they were emerging from colonialism. At the time of Ghana’s independence in 1957, for…

In this article, I focus on the impacts on South Korea of the current transformation in the Middle East. South Korea is the world’s fifth-largest importer of oil, importing 98…

The global energy environment affecting Korea at home and from abroad increases the necessity for green growth that can be achieved by environment-friendly energy technology development. Accordingly, the Korean government…

The expansion of the Group of Eight (G-8) to the Group of 20 (G-20) was received by developing countries with high expectations and optimism. The expansion was considered an important…

Every year on January 13, the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) sponsors a luncheon in Washington, DC to mark Korean American Day and recognize the local and national Korean…

In this episode of Korean Kontext, guest host Kyle Ferrier, KEI's director of academic affairs and research, sits down with Korea Society President Tom Byrne. Before joining the Korea Society…

It started in 2009 with a few audio lessons. Within just six years, Talk to Me in Korean has grown into a huge hit, with millions of listeners from all…

Since the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994 there have been numerous predictions that the collapse of the North Korean political system would be imminent, yet the Kim dynasty continues…

The Sangdong tungsten mine in South Korea holds one of the world’s largest single-mine tungsten reserves. After closing in the early 1990s—largely due to cheaper Chinese tungsten flooding world markets and undermining South Korea’s price competitiveness—the mine is set to resume operations next year. This revival follows the acquisition of the Sangdong mining rights by…

In the early 21st century, global value chains (GVCs) grew longer and became reliant on low-cost countries for assembly, employing just-in-time production methods. These practices were tested during events like the US-China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, many companies shifted their GVC strategies toward a focus on resilience and diversification. As this…

This is the first of two pieces exploring the continental-maritime balance on and around the Korean Peninsula Attention has turned to the re-emergence of a Cold War-like division in East Asia, with China, North Korea, and Russia on one side and the United States, South Korea, and Japan on the other. More recent reports of…

North Korea’s won has fallen in half against the US dollar since July for unclear reasons. An internal North Korean document collected by Daily NK blames perverse psychology for the trouble and warns that the won must be protected from further devaluation, suggesting high-level concerns of destabilizing inflation and a potential new banking crisis. The…