Asia

After the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) is approved by the legislatures of Korea and the United States, it will likely provide a turning point for the countries’ bilateral…

The denuclearization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) continues to be a source of considerable international concern. Yet, no coherent international framework has emerged to deal with this…

Korea is arguably the premier development success story of the last half century. Despite this success, there has been a nagging sense among many observers that the development of Korea’s…

The unique restriction of a one-time, five-year presidential term in the Republic of Korea (ROK) has often resulted in short-lived changes to the way the nation’s chief executive has staffed…

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…

Korea’s development from one of the poorest countries in the world in the 1950s to a major industrial power has been exceptionally rapid. Per capita income increased from 10% of that in the United States in 1970 to 70% by 2020 (Figure 1). Moreover, Korea has surpassed Japan. Korea’s rapid transformation was achieved through effective…

The recent crisis in the Middle East raises questions about the impact it may have on energy access for the world. Faith Birol, the current head of the International Energy Agency, said that the Israel-Hamas war is “definitely not good news” for oil prices. Similarly, on October 30 the World Bank warned that oil prices…

South Korea stands at a critical demographic juncture, facing a declining birthrate that has far-reaching implications for its economy and society. The increasingly severe demographic trends have pushed the government and society to consider which policy measures might offset the social and economic consequences of demographic decline. Fertility quickly declined from an average of six…

The number of North Korean refugees fleeing their homeland and reaching South Korea for resettlement has increased during the first nine months of 2023, though the numbers are still far below the number of refugees that reached South Korea in the previous decade.  At the same time, disturbing reports indicate that China is forcibly returning…