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…

Spanning nearly a century and multiple generations, Min Jin Lee's 2017 novel Pachinko tells the story of a Korean family struggling to find their place in Japan before, during, and after…

A woman in hanbok joyfully rises above Mt. Baekdu, arms raised, in a art piece entitled Umma Rises: Towards Global Peace. This is just one of many recent art pieces…

A group of women gossiping about the new neighbor. A feisty middle schooler using a homemade drone to prank his classmates. A young military officer seeking information from his past.…

With President Donald Trump finishing up his first official trip to Asia, including a stop in South Korea last week, this week's episode of Korean Kontext asks: what do South…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz In November, both Koreas continued to demonstrate a willingness for inter-Korean contact while also maintaining a commitment to improve security. Military actions over the past few months have not scuttled opportunities for dialogue. Inter-Korean talks in November led to scheduling talks set for December 11 at the vice minister level. The two…

By Matt Sullivan On October 22, 2015, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a subcommittee hearing on whether to designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. This hearing is only a small part of a much-larger debate on how to deal with North Korea’s proliferation of WMD material as well as…

By Kyle Ferrier This year's G-20 summit in Antalya, Turkey may best remembered for the inclusion of non-economic issues in response to the terror attacks in Paris and the migrant crisis in Europe, but the final agreement also reflects the work of officials from participating governments since late last year.  In a previous post I…

By Troy Stangarone After rumors that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would soon travel to North Korea were followed by denials that any trip was in the works, the Secretary General’s office acknowledged that discussions were ongoing for him to visit North Korea. Much as with his proposed trip to Kaesong earlier this year, any…