Asia

South Korean–Middle Eastern relations have been neglected in the literature throughout the years, mainly owing to the focus on Korea’s relations with the United States and Asian states and the…

An old Korean proverb says that when two whales fight it is the shrimps whose backs are crushed. Maybe that proverb best describes Korea’s situation on the trade front these…

The Domestic and International Politics of Spent Nuclear Fuel in South Korea: Are We Approaching Meltdown?

Geography alone would give Russia a prominent role in the Korean peninsula. The Russian Federation currently shares a recently demarcated 17-kilometer common border along the Tumen River with the Democratic…

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…

The first trip abroad by the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense in a new administration are closely watched for clues to the administration’s foreign policies.  In making the decision which foreign country to visit first, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense separately telegraph foreign and defense policy priorities.  The…

Since its inauguration, the Biden Administration has faced a long list of pressing domestic and foreign policy issues and challenges to tackle. People wonder how high North Korea ranks on the list- probably not among the top five unless another round of provocation forces Washington to refocus attention back on Pyongyang. There have been the…

What Happened In a speech commemorating Korea’s declaration of independence from Japan in 1919, President Moon indicated his government's desire to improve ties with Japan. The speech reaffirmed Moon’s long-standing push to separate bilateral discussions on the legacy of Japan’s colonial occupation from talks on security and other future-oriented concerns. Moon also stated that improving relations with…

What Happened On March 2, Seoul and Beijing agreed to establish two military hotlines that will connect the South Korean and Chinese navies and air forces in order to prevent military incidents in the region. There are now a total of five military hotlines between South Korea and China; the original three hotlines deal with China’s northern…