Asia

2014 marked the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Korea. This paper provides a historical overview of the relations between the two countries and gives two examples of…

The beginning of Korea-Russia economic relations go back 130 years, however, for most of the last century, the relationship between Korea and Russia has been curtailed due to historical events.…

German unification is often used as a preview on what is going to happen in Korea. Such a position is rejected in this article. Not only have the costs of…

Achieving unification has been one of the most important national goals of all South Korean presidents. President Park is no exception, and clarifies that building a foundation for national unification…

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 After more than a year of heightened tensions over the sinking of the Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island a proposed gas pipeline from Russia to South Korea through North Korea is potentially changing the factors on the ground.  Ever since Kim Jong-Il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed in principal…

By Sarah K. Yun On Tuesday, September 20, KEI hosted a discussion on China’s changing relations with the two Koreas as part of a book launch for the 2011 edition of Korea’s Economy.  The event featured two of the book’s authors, Forbes.com columnist Gordon Chang and Senior Congressional Research Service Analyst Dick Nanto. While both authors discussed…

The September 15 KEI-Woodrow Wilson Center program on my trip to North Korea with Charles Armstrong (Columbia University) and James Person (Wilson Center) received much Korean media attention.  The program showed over a hundred photos from the group's 4000-5000 pictures taken of daily life in Pyongyang and other citiesin North Korea. Below are links to…

On June 8 - 18, KEI Vice President, Abraham Kim, visited North Korea with a group of American Asia experts.  The purpose of the trip was to analyze the efficacy of sanctions, conditions in the cities/countryside, the integration of technology, the prevalance of cell phones and political conditions.  The slide presentation were shown at the GRS Annual Conference in…