Asia

Korea’s economy in the year 2005 demonstrated that it is picking up significant positive momentum, although the full-year performance in 2005 showed mixed results. Korea’s real gross domestic product (GDP)…

Korea is in the midst of the most rapid demographic transition of any member country of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); the share of Korea’s population older…

There are few areas about which there is a greater range of opinions among international monetary experts than the issue of exchange rate regimes. Eminent economists can be found who…

In 2005, the Korean government implemented a number of new financial policies. Of those, two policy measures deserve special attention because of their potentially significant impact on domestic financial markets.…

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 Troy Stangarone In its first public response to North Korea’s suspected cyber attack on Sony, the Obama Administration announced new financial sanctions on three North Korean entities and ten individuals related to North Korea’s defense industry. While the sanctions may have some short-to-medium term impact on North Korea financially, they are only likely a…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz After the disappointment of not getting a high-level meeting following the Incheon Asian Games agreement, it looked like inter-Korean relations would remain stalled until 2015. However, South Korea preempted North Korea’s traditional New Year’s Day announcement by requesting an inter-Korean meeting early in 2015. The request helped the  Park Geun-hye administration seize…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz  Dennis Rodman and Seth Rogen have made the same mistake on North Korea. Both have mistakenly viewed North Korea as a helpless entity. Rodman viewed North Korea as so helpless that all it needed was someone to talk to, play basketball with, and sing “Happy Birthday” to its leader. Rogen saw North…

By Troy Stangarone North Korea’s cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment and the subsequent threats to target theaters that screened “The Interview” have had a chilling effect beyond Sony’s decision not to release it on Christmas day. The decision to withdraw “The Interview” from release has raised important questions regarding freedom of speech and how…