Asia

The United States and South Korea are close allies, committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and home to advanced industrial economies. Pragmatic cooperation on clean energy technologies would aid their…

For the United States and South Korea, aligning efforts in biotechnology and biomanufacturing within the strategic alliance will support shared goals for technological leadership, economic competitiveness, and supply chain resiliency.…

Although the US-ROK alliance is critical for the security of the Indo-Pacific region, the close bilateral military relationship has not historically extended into outer space. Policies and regulations dating to…

In the past decade, the US and South Korea faced a relatively narrow set of challenges in cyberspace, notably North Korea’s cyber crime facilitating sanctions evasion. In the next decade,…

Korean Kontext recently spoke to Gordon Flake of the Mike and Maureen Mansfield Foundation for a conversation about Korea’s rising prominence as a “middle power”.  Focussing on South Korea’s rapidly…

62 years ago on this day of June 25, hostilities broke out on the Korean peninsula. It was a conflict that ended only due to what everybody thought would be…

Korean Kontext caught up with Man Asian literary prize winner Shin Kyung-sook for a chat about her latest novel, “Please Look After Mom”.  Shin became the first woman and South…

In this special episode, Korean Kontext had the opportunity to speak to South Korean Minister for Trade, Bark Taeho, during his latest visit to Washington DC. KEI’s Vice President, Dr.…

By Troy Stangarone In the aftermath of last spring’s shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the Park administration has sought international investment to serve as a bulwark against future actions by North Korea that would endanger Kaesong’s operations. While finding ways to raise the cost of a future shutdown for North Korea is a sensible…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz South Korean President Park Geun-hye travelled to India this week for her first overseas trip in 2014. After meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 16, the two sides issued a “Joint Statement for Expansion of the Strategic Partnership.” Expansion is an accurate way to describe current relations between South…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz It is the start of a new year, which means it is time to start parsing through North Korea’s New Year’s message. Like last year, Kim Jong Un delivered the New Year’s message in a speech. These are the first major policy guidelines and ideas announced since the purge of his uncle,…

By Troy Stangarone In a sense, the events of 2013 on the Korean peninsula began in December of 2012. In the days leading up to South Korea’s presidential election, North Korea successfully put its first satellite in orbit, defying UN prohibitions on long-range missile tests. Less than a week later, South Korea would elect Park…