Asia

While North Korea has developed Special Economic Zones for several decades now, these zones have attracted little attention from foreign investors, due to a mix of lack of economic reforms…

A coherent North Korea strategy must proceed from a theory of North Korean politics, strategy, and decision-making. Structured analytic techniques, particularly the analysis of competing hypotheses (ACH), are instrumental in…

During 2017-18, international attention turned to the Korean Peninsula as the threat of conflict reached new heights. This led to an explosion in the growth of “North Korea watchers”— the…

The Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign has led to the imposition of a nearly comprehensive international sanctions regime targeting North Korea and its nuclear weapons program. With negotiations underway, the…

Covering news on the Korean peninsula can be a hectic task. With all the rapidly evolving developments in economics, politics, and society, it's often hard for journalists who cover the…

With the Trump-Kim Summit in Singapore still on the calendar at least for the moment, pundits and analysts alike have been predicting the outcomes or sharing their advice for how…

With the exception of Gangnam Style, few mainstream radio stations have ever even thought to play Korean pop music. But in the last year or so, the United States has…

On February 9, years of hard work will culminate in the opening of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. A month later, on March 8, the 2018 Winter…

The number of defectors fleeing North Korea and resettling in South Korea remains at very low levels. The number had begun to decline before 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic led Pyongyang to enforce harsher border controls to prevent North Koreans (and others) from entering the country from abroad and potentially bringing the virus with them.…

Korea stands out for its long life expectancy of 83.6 years as of 2021, the second longest among the 38 countries that are members of the OECD. In addition, its avoidable mortality rate (premature death from preventable and treatable causes) was 142 per 100,000 persons, well below the OECD average. Expanded access to healthcare has…

The announcement of a “comprehensive strategic partnership” following the North Korea-Russia summit has raised alarm in South Korean domestic politics. A South Korean presidential official has stated that Seoul will reconsider its policy of not providing lethal aid to Ukraine while a left-leaning media outlet stated that the new partnership indicates the failure of the…

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) discussed serious human rights abuses carried out in North Korea on June 12, with South Korea’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Joon-kook Hwang serving as UNSC president. The roles of North Korea and South Korea at the UNSC meeting highlight the stark differences between the two Korean states…