Asia

The United States, Russia, and China have cooperated to help deter North Korea from again invading the South and thus preventing Korean tensions to become a devastating hot war. While…

Security cooperation in East Asia lags behind other forms of regional coopera- tion. The relationship among China, Japan, and the United States—the most powerful security actors in the region—exemplifies this…

The news of heightened military readiness in the North on May 25 reverberated through the Republic of Korea’s stock market and foreign exchange markets, prompting South Korea to expend an…

Despite an historic delay and continued opposition in some quarters, passage of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) looks set to proceed quickly through the United States Congress. The…

June 25, 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. The conflict on the Korean Peninsula has been going on for so long that we sometimes…

2020 is starting off dramatically with the escalation of tensions in the Middle East – The world held its breath while the United States and Iran exchanged both blows and…

While it is frustrating to see North Korean projectiles flying out to sea and Pyongyang’s erratic, unpredictable reactions in negotiations, we cannot forget where things stood in 2017 – the…

30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people’s aspiration to establish a pluralistic liberal democracy appears to be under scrutiny around the world – anti-immigration policies dominate political…

Lawmakers from South Korea’s two major political parties have a notoriously difficult time agreeing on much of anything. However, one issue that enjoys bipartisan support is reforming the country’s espionage law, a proposal now under consideration in the National Assembly. The focus is on updating Article 98 of the Criminal Act as the legislation, in…

The visit by Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio to South Korea earlier this month created a few ripples. No major announcements were made, and the two leaders pledged to continue efforts to bolster ties. In South Korea, the opposition Democratic Party issued a somewhat ritual denunciation of the Yoon Suk-yeol government for “undermining national interest…

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign position to implement tariffs of up to 10 percent—or even 20 percent as his pronouncements have suggested—has grabbed the attention of the international business community. It was also featured prominently in the first and possibly only debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Already, analysts are concerned about the…

Several important economic figures released by the South Korean government last week suggest that the overall economy is in good shape. One perplexing trend, however, is the less sanguine numbers reported on the general perception and sentiment about the country’s macroeconomic performance. This seeming discrepancy is worth examination because “feelings” about the economy can affect…