Asia

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…

The purpose of this research is to identify an exchange rate regime that would be suitable for North Korea to achieve its goal of economic reform. To do so, we…

Growing up in Tennessee and Alabama, Dr. David Oh never imagined he would one day be leading a mission to explore a metallic asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. But…

In 2017, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will complete the move of nearly all troops and support staff from Yongsan Garrison in Seoul to Camp Humphreys, 50 miles south of the…

For the first Korean Kontext podcast of 2017, five members of the KEI staff sat down with host Jenna Gibson for a chat about the volitility of 2016 and what…

The last several rounds of UN sanctions against the DPRK have been called the "strongest ever," and the new sanctions passed on November 30 are no different. There are some…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is a fixture that constantly symbolizes the unresolved tension between the two Koreas. That tension came crashing into plain view in the recent standoff between North and South Korea.  In early August, landmines along the DMZ suspected to be recently planted by North Korea injured two South Korean…

By Troy Stangarone On September 1 new trade figures for the month of August indicated that South Korea’s exports had dropped 14.7% year-on-year continuing a trend since January that has seen year-on-year monthly declines. Exports play significant role in the South Korean economy and have a value that is roughly half of South Korea’s GDP.…

By Jenna Gibson First coined in China in the 1990s, Hallyu literally means “Korean Wave” – meaning the wave of Korean TV shows, pop songs and even skincare products that has swept across Asia and beyond. Many have noted the existence of Hallyu, and since Psy made his famous debut on the world stage more…

By Bradley Sancken What do the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Guantanamo Bay, and the Galapagos islands have in common? While two of the three serve important national security functions, all three share a quality that is unique and unlike anywhere else on the planet, vibrant untouched ecosystems that boast endangered and endemic species. Since the…