Asia

China’s ideal outcome for North Korea is a Goldilocks state—one that is not so strong to challenge China or so weak that its implosion threatens Chinese interests. China’s multifaceted approach…

The six-party talks have been hindered by political shifts in the states involved, and especially by changing levels of support for the talks in Washington and Seoul. But the talks…

Even though inter-Korean economic cooperation has been growing steadily for the past two decades, the volume of inter-Korean trade is still small compared to the other emerging Asian economies’ trade…

North Korea badly needs change but whether that change can and should be induced or forced from the outside is open to question. This paper proceeds from the perspective that…

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 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…