Asia

The Fall 2024 issue of Korea Policy, Broadening the Alliance: New Frontiers in US-South Korea Cooperation, is a special issue focused on the US-ROK alliance. The issue is motivated by…

The Joe Biden and Yoon Suk-yeol administrations have embraced the expansion of economic cooperation within the US-ROK alliance, leading to the emergence of South Korea as a valued technology partner…

The security alliance between the United States and South Korea, once focused primarily on military defense, is evolving to include economic security and technological cooperation. The evolving partnership between the…

This paper elucidates how Washington and Seoul cooperate on AI and quantum technologies, both recognized as critical emerging technologies essential to their national interests. Technology cooperation is denoted as government-to-government…

    In the mid-1990s, North Korea experienced a famine that by some estimates wiped out 10 percent of the population. Though many at the time thought the regime would…

      Over the last decade, China has become an increasingly important country for South Korea has it has emerged as Seoul’s largest trading partner and a leading player…

    On April 8, North Korea withdrew all of its workers from the Kaesong Industrial Complex, temporarily placing on hold the last form of cooperation between North and South…

South Korea’s nuclear energy industry has for decades been facilitated through close cooperation with counterparts in the United States under what is known as a “123 Agreement”.  Today South Korea’s…

By Paul Sung Classical music is a dying art that is shrinking partly due to the lack of entrepreneurial innovation. This trend is especially evident in South Korea. Although native Korean musicians like Sohn Jeung-beum, Son Yeol-eum, Yekwon Sunwoo, and Jasmine Choi have risen with much success with their music, only a few classical musicians…

By Paul Sung Amidst all the ongoing discussions about a military conflict between North Korea and the U.S., we need to think beyond missiles, preventative strikes, and nuclear weapons to talk about the potential consequences of a war in the megacity of Seoul. Looking into the hypothetical scenario laid out in this article published by…

By Hwan Kang When Moon Jae-in was elected after former President Park Geun-hye was impeached, Koreans expected major policy makeovers. Indeed, the Moon Administration is trying to meet expectations by addressing some of Korea’s long lasting problems by announcing progressive measures such as an increase in the minimum wage and regulating the real estate market.…

By Hayeon Carol Park In July 2017, South Korea’s Minimum Wage Commission finalized the decision to increase the country’s minimum wage by 16 percent to 7,530 won ($6.60) per hour in 2018. This minimum wage hike is seen as an early victory for President Moon Jae-in, who has pledged to be a "jobs president" by…