Asia

2014 marked the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Korea. This paper provides a historical overview of the relations between the two countries and gives two examples of…

The beginning of Korea-Russia economic relations go back 130 years, however, for most of the last century, the relationship between Korea and Russia has been curtailed due to historical events.…

German unification is often used as a preview on what is going to happen in Korea. Such a position is rejected in this article. Not only have the costs of…

Achieving unification has been one of the most important national goals of all South Korean presidents. President Park is no exception, and clarifies that building a foundation for national unification…

In 2010, a group of Asian countries made major strides toward economic integration with the launch of the Chang Mai Initiative Multilateralization. This currency swap arrangement has had a major…

With the recent season finale of The Walking Dead and the broadcast of his visit to South Korea with talk show host Conan O'Brien this past weekend, we look back at our…

This week our guest is noted scholar and North Korea watcher Dr. Stephan Haggard. Dr. Haggard is a Professor of Korea-Pacific Studies and director of the Korea-Pacific Program at the…

At KEI, we mainly focus on the relationship between the United States and South Korea, and their approaches toward North Korea. This week, we're taking a different look at the…

South Korea’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement sets a target of reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40 percent by 2030 (relative to their peak in 2018). Korea also aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 (Figure 1, Panel A). The targets are ambitious, as Korea was the world’s thirteenth-largest GHG…

In the early weeks after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempted imposition of martial law and his subsequent impeachment by the National Assembly, the response in Japan among foreign policy specialists and in the mass media was uniformly supportive, even admiring, of the resilience of Korea’s democratic institutions. “Yoon’s action was undemocratic and inexcusable,” a senior…

Contributors (last name alphabetical): Je Heon (James) Kim, Joo Young Kim This timeline is the third part of a series that covers major events in the aftermath of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024. This part covers the events from the request by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) for an…

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…