Asia

South Korea is currently engaged, once again, in a large-scale, expensive modernization of its military that aims to provide the country with a more robust and self-sufficient defense. The timing…

Globalization is a hallmark of the twenty first-century world. As transportation and telecommunications grow in both efficiency and level of performance and as the ambit of the Internet expands, it…

The penetration of the Internet in Korean society is usually seen as a positive development, perhaps even a model for other countries; more efficient bureaucracy, more political figures making use…

In the field of international security, few connections have been made between the Korean peninsula with the Middle East. Traditional regional studies literature focuses on Korean issues within the Asia…

This spring, Han Kang became the first Korean author to win the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for her novel, "The Vegetarian." And, for the first time in the prize's…

North Korea recently experienced one of the worst natural disasters in its history, as flood waters swept through towns in the northeast part of the country. Up to 600,000 people…

Middlebury College, famous for its immersive language programs, added Korean as its 11th language in 2015. Now, after two summers, the School of Korean is helping students from a variety…

With the goal of supporting the next generation of scholars interested in Korea and Northeast Asia, the U.S.-Korea Next Gen Scholars Program brings together young professionals from various backgrounds to…

By Jongsung Kim, Ph.D. Earlier this month, the Strategy and Finance Committee in the Republic of Korea’s National Assembly held a hearing on the household debt policies (가계부채 정책  청문회) in Korea. The rising household debt in Korea is a critical issue, and a clear symbol of its importance was the high level of government…

By Jinho Park An intense political debate is currently taking place in South Korea on reforming the National Intelligence Service (NIS). The current controversy over intelligence reform is somewhat unique in that it is not caused by an intelligence failure, but rather by its alleged interference with the 2012 presidential election. Further adding to the…

By Andrew Kwon According to reports, this past weekend’s Xi-Obama Summit went “terrific.” While the two leaders spoke on sensitive issues, like cyber attacks, they found additional common ground on North Korea. They agreed to continue to pressure North Korea on its nuclear ambitions, but how far is China willing to go? In the past few…

By Troy Stangarone With K-Pop finally making its global breakout with Psy’s international smash hit Gangnam Style, one might have expected there to be a residual effect on how people around the world see South Korea. However, a recent poll by the BBC [1]on global views of 16 countries and the EU found South Korea…