Asia

The tax burden in Korea—at 26 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) —was well below the average of the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)…

There may have been no one who anticipated the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, once one of the top five global investment banks. The shocking news reverberated through the Korean financial…

Korea’s economy in 2008 was adversely impacted by high commodity prices, especially oil, and by financial and real shocks started by the collapse of housing prices in the United States…

The twenty-first century has already been dubbed the Asian century. Although this nomination may be premature, it is certain that its fi rst decade belongs to Asia. This is reflected…

2018 has been an incredibly eventful year for both the Koreas and the U.S.-Korea relationship: from North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics at the start of the year to…

Interest in the Korean peninsula is generally very narrow in the United States – it tends to be focused on North Korea and security issues, particularly the country's ballistic and…

Last Friday, on November 30, 2018, President George H.W. Bush passed away. In the days that followed, there were many discussions in the foreign policy community about the late president's…

What does a unified Korea look like? Beyond the question of whether the government of this new country will be a unitary or federal one, how will the people –…

What Happened Last week, the police failed to stop an ex-convict from murdering two women despite having placed him under surveillance using an ankle monitor. The public response to this incident reflected growing anxiety around a series of violent crimes targeting vulnerable groups such as women and children. A growing segment of the public sees the current sentencing as inadequate to deter violent…

The New Southern Policy Plus (NSP Plus) was announced by President Moon Jae-in at the 21st ASEAN-ROK Summit on November 12, 2020. While maintaining emphasis on economic partnerships, the NSP Plus identifies collective recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and sustainability as critical areas for cooperation. It expands on the original NSP’s three-pillar framework of “People,…

One prominent strand of North Korea watching takes the form of tracking individual personnel movements: the ups and downs associated with retirements, purges and the promotion of new favorites. Yet there is persistent doubt about whether these movements are really consequential, particularly in a highly personalist political system. We can get a somewhat more rounded…

What Happened Named “Operation Miracle,” 391 Afghans who helped the Korean government’s activities in Afghanistan were brought to Korea as “persons with special merit” - but not as refugees. President Moon Jae-in said the successful evacuation was “highly recognized by the international community” and hopes that it will serve as an opportunity to better establish South…