Asia

Despite years of sanctions and isolation, foreign goods and modern consumer technologies continue to flow into North Korea providing elites with luxury goods and fueling the fragile economy. Countries such…

Winston Churchill coined the term “summit” in the early 1950s to define meetings between leaders of great powers in the Cold War. While summits have allowed needed personal contacts for…

While the initial focus may be on the humanitarian and safety needs of Japan after the Fukushima nuclear accident, South Korea has a major stake in the future of nuclear…

For much of the past month, the world has sat transfixed as the Arab World has begun to transform before our eyes. Having started in Tunisia, the call for political…

In this episode we speak with Doug Goudie, Director of International Trade Policy at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Mr. Goudie draws from his experiences to share his perspective…

In this episode we hear from Tami Overby, Vice President for Asia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and former President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea. Ms.…

Now in its tenth year, KEI’s Opinion Leaders Seminar (OLS) is an annual gathering of some of the world’s foremost policymakers and scholars on the U.S.-South Korean alliance. In this…

An exclusive interview with Dr. Alon Levkowitz, author of the most recent edition of the Korea Economic Institute’s Academic Paper Series. His paper, titled “The Republic of Korea and the…

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024, and his subsequent impeachment on December 14 have plunged the country into its worst political crisis in nearly 40 years, with some signs of a negative economic impact. The economy was already showing signs of weakness before the December political…

Western media and foreign policy specialists point to a self-confident Kim Jong Un, willing to take large risks as he again contemplates dealing face-to-face with US President Donald Trump and as he works closely with Russian President Vladimir Putin to send weapons and soldiers into the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Kim continues to fire UN-prohibited…

10 Issues to Watch for on the Korean Peninsula in 2025 Authors: Mai Anna Pressley, Dan Sneider, Nils Wollesen Osterberg, Scott Snyder, Tom Ramage, James Kim, Jennifer Ahn, Clint Work, Joo Young Kim   The year 2024 ended with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law, his impeachment by the National Assembly,…

This essay was part of a contest jointly organized by the George Washington University Institute for Korean Studies and the Institute for Korean Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. The contest invited students to analyze a South Korean policy challenge and propose evidence-based solutions, with winning entries published in the Korea Economic Institute of America’s flagship…