Asia

Growing up as a Korean-American, I was often asked, “Where are you from?” This question became a kind of standard line that opened or punctuated many first encounters. Sometimes, the…

In less than a year, the fate of the six-party talks has swung around from the lowest ebb when North Korea conducted its nuclear test to the current high point…

It may be premature right now to talk about post–free trade agreement (FTA) relations between the United States and Korea. The U.S.-Korea FTA still has some way to go before…

The past decade in the Korea-U.S. alliance relationship has not been smooth. Since the late 1990s, Koreans have been raising issues related to the past or current actions of the…

In this episode, Korea Economic Institute’s Director of Communications Chad 0Carroll speaks with Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations. Having written a number of publications on U.S. relations…

In this episode, Korea Economic Institute’s Director of Public Affairs and Regional Issues Sarah Yun speaks with Dr. Andrei Lankov of Kookimin University. Having written a number of books on…

In this episode, new Korean Kontext presenter speaks with Curtis Melvin, the man behind the NK Econ Watch blog and developer of “North Korea Uncovered”, a Google Map overlay that…

In this episode, we speak with Kevin O’Donnell, who, after decades on a private sector career path, became the first-ever Peace Corps country director for South Korea, followed by a…

By Jenna Gibson It’s official – new numbers from March confirm that China’s THAAD retaliation has significantly cut into South Korea’s tourism industry. According to new data released today by the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of Chinese tourists arriving in South Korea fell 40 percent year-on-year in March 2017. Only 360,782 Chinese visitors came…

This is the first in a series of blogs looking at South Korea's foreign relations in the run up to the next Korean administration taking office on May 10. The series also includes blogs on relations with North Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia, the European Union, the Middle East, ASEAN, Africa, and Latin America. By Mark…

By Troy Stangarone Full first quarter data on trade between North Korea and China is not yet available, but data released by China’s General Administration of Customs raises interesting questions in regards to ongoing trade between China and North Korea. According to reports, total trade with North Korea grew 37.4 percent in the first quarter…

By Juni Kim The fallout from President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment has dramatically altered the state of conservative politics in South Korea. Despite two successive conservative presidencies and holding majority control of the South Korean National Assembly over most of the past decade, conservative politicians are now dealing with two fractured parties and no clear presidential…