Asia

During the past few years, the United States has begun three important initiatives that alter its defense commitment to South Korea (Republic of Korea [ROK]). First, Washington started to decrease…

In October 2006, Kim Jong-il’s North Korea again seized international attention. With its claimed underground nuclear test, Pyongyang upped the ante in its confrontation with the United States and the…

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…

By Clare Hubbard While atrocious human rights violations continue in North Korea, the South Korean public remains focused on their daily lives. A prolonged separation and ideological division on the Korean peninsula has gradually produced two different peoples and the younger generations of South Koreans are losing more and more interest in their North Korean…

By Kenneth Lee Sixty years ago, virtually no one knew of Korea and the few that did would have described it as a war-ravaged backwater of a country. Now, Korea is slowly becoming recognized as a modern and prosperous country.  Companies like Samsung and Hyundai are now household names in the West; while Korea’s accomplishments…

By Troy Stangarone A little more than a year after North Korea initially withdrew its workers from the Kaesong Industrial Complex, South Korea announced that German manufacturer Groz-Beckert has received approval to open an office in Kaesong to supply industrial needles to textile factories in the complex. This will make Groz-Beckert the second foreign investment…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz Just as April is historically one of the most contentious months for inter-Korean relations, the West Sea and the Northern Limit Line (NLL) have been among the most contentious areas in inter-Korean relations. Multiple firefights, the sinking of the Cheonan, and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island all took place in this region.…