Asia

This past year—2007—was another solid one for Korea’s economy. Buoyed by continued strong exports and a pickup in domestic demand, real GDP is estimated to have grown by nearly 5…

The year 2007 demonstrated more clearly than ever that external economic engagement provides a chance to help convince North Korea to abandon isolation and take specific actions toward denuclearization that…

On 30 June 2007, United States Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab and Republic of Korea Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong signed the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), an encompassing…

As the first decade of the twenty-first century nears an end, distinct patterns are emerging in the global trading system. The Doha Development Round remains stalled and has begun to…

In this episode, Korean Kontext speaks with Ms. Jie-ae Sohn, President of Arirang TV & Radio, Korea’s first English language international broadcast system. Ms. Sohn worked as the former CNN…

Preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons has emerged to be one of the key foreign policy priorities of the Obama administration. Despite efforts among Western powers to form a united…

By the time you read this, the KORUS FTA will have entered the implementation stage. To celebrate, Korean Kontext caught up with two of the main movers-and-shakers behind the deal…

This episode of Korean Kontext has a distinctly British flavor, featuring interviews with two leading Ambassador’s that work closely on UK and Korea related affairs. While recently in London, Korean…

By Thomas Lee In the face of a North Korean missile volley protesting the recent passing of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270, China has once again called for calm. This will undoubtedly anger some and lead many to question whether China’s resolve to earnestly and forcefully implement the sanctions is genuine. The new China-backed…

By Jenna Gibson In The Economist’s recent ranking of the best and worst places to be a working woman, South Korea did not fare well. In fact, it was considered last among OECD countries. In what they call their “glass-ceiling index,” The Economist ranked OECD countries along various measures related to women in the workforce,…

On January 6 North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test and its second successful satellite launch on February 7, 2016. The following is a collection of the international response to these two actions. United States January 6, 2016 – South Korea and the U.S. has stepped up joint defense readiness by increasing surveillance activities to…

By Thomas Lee With almost three months remaining before the 7th Korean Worker’s Party Plenum is scheduled to convene in May, South Korean intelligence sources state that North Korea appears to preparing for its fifth nuclear test. Although few if any signs of test preparations have been detected by satellite imagery, the recent experience with…