Asia

After the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) is approved by the legislatures of Korea and the United States, it will likely provide a turning point for the countries’ bilateral…

The denuclearization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) continues to be a source of considerable international concern. Yet, no coherent international framework has emerged to deal with this…

Korea is arguably the premier development success story of the last half century. Despite this success, there has been a nagging sense among many observers that the development of Korea’s…

The unique restriction of a one-time, five-year presidential term in the Republic of Korea (ROK) has often resulted in short-lived changes to the way the nation’s chief executive has staffed…

In this episode of Korean Kontext, guest host Kyle Ferrier, KEI's director of academic affairs and research, sits down with Korea Society President Tom Byrne. Before joining the Korea Society…

Ever since Myanmar's political and economic opening several years ago, countries have been looking to get in on the ground floor to build ties with this emerging economy in Southeast…

Ever since last summer, when South Korea and the United States announced they would be deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system to the peninsula, China…

Much has been discussed about the power of outside information to open the eyes of the North Korean people and convince them of the truth about the outside world. Some…

By Sarah K. Yun As leaders of the Asia-Pacific nations gathered for the 20th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in Vladivostok, Russia on September 8-9, the ongoing effects of the euro crisis and global financial crisis added urgency to their efforts to increase regional economic growth and give APEC a leading role in the…

In this week's South Korea polling data from the Asan Institute for Policy Studies most of the races remained largely unchanged. President Lee Myung-bak's approval rating remained below 30 percent for the entire week and the progressive candidates support remained largely flat. Park Geun-hye did open up a 5 percent lead in the head-to-head match up…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz Last week North Korea and Japan held their first government-to-government talks in four years. These discussions seemed to be a part of a summer of diplomatic outreach by North Korea. The meetings centered on handling the remains of Japanese soldiers that were killed on the Korean peninsula during World War II. Japan…

As a new feature here on the on The Peninsula blog we will be featuring weekly polling data from South Korea in association with The Asan Institute for Policy Studies. The polls from The Asan Institute for Policy Studies will feature weekly tracking data for presidential and legislative approval, as well as head-to-head match-ups for…