Asia

South Korea is hardly alone in facing the uncertainties of the new Trump administration. Moreover, it is impossible to consider South Korea’s response to Trump’s foreign policy without considering how…

The return of U.S. President Donald Trump to the White House in 2025 has brought a renewed emphasis on “America First” foreign policy, marked by a strategic retrenchment that challenges…

The U.S. presidential election marked the beginning of a new era of retrenchment. The new Donald Trump administration, inaugurated in January 2025, has swiftly shifted U.S. priorities to emphasize domestic…

The Fall 2024 issue of Korea Policy, Broadening the Alliance: New Frontiers in US-South Korea Cooperation, is a special issue focused on the US-ROK alliance. The issue is motivated by…

This week, we have a very special guest who flew in from Paris to talk about Korea's economy. Dr. Randall Jones is head of the Japan/Korea Desk at the Organization…

As Seoul has grown, it has become more and more international. The city has been making an effort to attract more foreign visitors, whether as tourists, students or workers. This…

Over the last 50 years, Myanmar has oscillated between periods of friendship with South Korea and partnership with North Korea. As Myanmar opens to the international community, however, investment and…

Anyone who has spent time in Korea knows the term Yellow Dust. Sand from Mongolia sweeps across China, picking up pollutants and carrying them across borders. Every spring, Koreans bring…

Korea has long worked to maintain at least cordial relationships that balance its larger neighbors. The global U.S.-China competition is the newest iteration of the challenge, with Seoul’s most important ally on one side and its largest trading partner on the other. Although domestic sentiment is souring on China, experts suggest South Korean government officials…

Nearly a year ago, President Moon Jae-in’s approval ratings were soaring on the strength of the South Korean government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, with some polls showing public approval above 70 percent. His party, the liberal Democratic Party, had also won a supermajority in the South Korea’s legislative body in April 2020. At the…

What Happened On April 20th, the National Assembly ratified three of the remaining four International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions that South Korea has not yet implemented. Moves to ratify the conventions were proposed in 2019, but progress was not made, as many conservative politicians and businesses opposed the changes. Despite ratifying these conventions, South Korea has not adopted the provision on…

What Happened On April 19, the South Korean government launched a committee to monitor real estate issues and create new policy suggestions. The creation of the committee follows the ruling party’s defeat in the Seoul and Busan mayoral elections, which many partially attribute to the Moon administration’s inability to control property prices. Rising real estate prices are contributing to increased…