Asia

What corresponding changes are being made to the Korea-U.S. economic and trade relationship? If, through the changes of the last decade, our trade relationship has evolved from one narrowly focused…

This paper aims to trace the major changes that took place in the Korean housing market and the housing finance system during the past decade, and also to offer an…

Rocky roads conjure images of pitfalls and jarring bumps on a tortuous journey toward some desired destination, without assurance that some calamity will not bar the way to the hoped-for…

Between winning the election in December 2007 and taking office in February 2008, Lee Myungbak and his administration sketched out a massive reform program that would potentially affect every aspect…

Hello again after the holiday break! Just before the holidays I spoke with Hawon Lee, who was just wrapping up his nearly four years as Washington D.C. Bureau Chief of…

In this episode we speak with Mr. Ken E. Gause, currently a senior research analyst with the International Affairs Group and Iranian Studies Program at CNA Strategic Studies in Alexandria,…

In this episode, we are joined by Balbina Hwang, currently a visiting professor at Georgetown University and the National Defense University here in D.C. Ms. Hwang is here to speak…

This episode takes us directly into the office of Ambassador Han Duk-Soo, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United States, who shares his thoughts on the much-anticipated G-20…

Finding accurate and current information about North Korea has always been difficult, but steps taken by Pyongyang in an effort to deal with the COVID pandemic have made the problem of getting information about the North even more difficult.  A key source of first-hand information on the ground has been supplied by refugees who have…

The latest OECD Economic Outlook, released on November 22nd, paints a grim picture of the world economy. Russia’s war against Ukraine has resulted in a significant energy price shock similar in magnitude to those seen in the 1970s (Figure 1). High inflation has spread across countries and products, prompting central breaks to raise interest rates,…

In recent days, North Korea’s human rights abuses were again debated at the United Nations and a resolution critical of Pyongyang is being circulated for consideration.  North Korea’s human rights record has been debated and a resolution critical of the government in Pyongyang has been adopted by the UN General Assembly every year since December…

At the end of September, the Republic of Korea attended a meeting of the Partners in the Blue Pacific (PBP). The initiative, led by the U.S., Australia, Japan, and Britain, aims at working with states in Oceania on advancing regional development. Ahead of the meeting, the Korean government was equivocal to the initiative. "Nothing has…