2004 Posts located
President Lee Myung-bak won a landslide victory in 2007. His popularity before the election was obvious, and it came as a surprise to almost no one that he won by…
Korea and Japan are two key allies of the United States in East Asia. These two countries are “window models” of postwar democratization and economic advancement in a free world.…
On 19 October 1983 in Kim Jong-il’s office at the Central Party Building in Pyongyang, a private conversation took place between Kim and two South Korean filmmakers: director Shin Sang-ok…
The world can only hope the recent U.S.-North Korean bilateral discussions will revive the six-power talks and lead to Pyongyang’s renunciation of its nuclear weapons ambitions. Hope, however, is not…
For many years, South Korea has been a homogeneous country. But with more foreigners coming to live in Korea, that is starting to change. In fact, the Korea Institute for…
In early July, the United States and South Korea announced that they had come to an agreement to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system near the city…
With Election 2016 well underway, KEI's very own Phil Eskeland has been closely following how both the Republican and Democratic parties have been talking about foreign policy and Asia. He…
In the late 1930s, nearly 200,000 ethnic Koreans were forcibly removed from the Soviet Far East, packed into trains and sent to Central Asia. More than 70 years later, their…
By Nicholas Hamisevicz Reports indicate South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) believes that Jang Song Taek, Kim Jong-un’s uncle, has been removed from all of his leadership posts in North Korea. If true, this would possibly be the biggest power move under Kim Jong-un’s new leadership. Jang Song Taek, husband to Kim Jong-il’s sister, Kim…
By Troy Stangarone As political gridlock in mid-October brought the United States to the brink of default for the second time in two years, world leaders and major holders of U.S. debt such as China called on the United States to take responsible actions to protect U.S. debt holders. However, at the same time that…
By Troy Stangarone As the only Northeast Asian nation not involved in the nuclear talks with North Korea, Mongolia is often left out of discussions about resolving the region’s most intractable security issue – the North Korean nuclear crisis. However, when Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj becomes the first head of state to meet with Kim…
By Troy Stangarone At a recent international conference in Seoul, South Korean President Park Geun-hye called for a “Eurasia Initiative” to link Europe and Asia via trade, transit, and energy. However, achieving President Park’s vision will require developing a means of integrating North Korea into the broader Eurasian framework and mitigating the risk of Pyongyang…