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…

This is the first part in a three part series on the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. The second part of the series can be found here and the third part here. By Taeho Bark The United States (U.S.) used to be always the largest export market for the Korean products during 1970s and 1980s. The…

By Mark Tokola Reasonable people, especially people new to looking at policy on the Korean Peninsula, might wonder if the North Koreans may have a valid point when they complain that U.S.-ROK joint military exercises are unnecessarily provocative.  If the goal is to engage in constructive diplomacy, wouldn't it be a good first step for…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz With Koreans returning from the Lunar New Year holidays, another opportunity to return to a better state of inter-Korean affairs passed as well. This time last year, the two Koreas had just concluded a rare family visit that included around 100 elderly South Koreans. This year, no such luck would be forthcoming.…

By Troy Stangarone Three months after announcing that they had reached a preliminary agreement, South Korea and China formally announced the conclusion of their free trade agreement (FTA) talks. The additional time allowed the two governments to finalize additional details to strengthen the agreement such as a standstill provision to preclude either country from increasing…