Asia

The year 2008 saw a reversal of a long-lasting policy constellation in the international community visà- vis the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea). South Korea, for 10 years…

The year 2008 will be recorded in world history as a year in which the global capitalist system was threatened as a consequence of the U.S.-originated financial turmoil that began…

Following several years of strong expansion, the Korean economy began losing momentum in the second half of 2008 in the wake of the stress engulfing the global financial system. Although…

North Korea’s economy has been on the verge of collapse since the beginning of the second nuclear crisis in 2002 because of the international community’s growing sanctions and pressure. The…

When Kim Jong-il died in 2011, the world held its breath as North Korea entered uncharted waters. No other communist dictatorship in the last century – for that matter no…

On June 25, 1950, North Korea launched a surprise invasion of South Korea and started a war that is still technically ongoing. But it was – as North Korea’s Kim…

The North Korean economy is changing – we know this because of widely reported growth of private markets since the famine of 1990s. But black markets and illicit activities are…

In May, The Korean-born Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin was named The National League Pitcher of the Month. When you think of Asians and baseball, you might think first…

By Lilka Marino The first official meeting between delegations of North and South Korea since division occurred in 1972, where delegations from both sides of the Demilitarized Zone met at Panmunjom to discuss reunification. It was the first time that the North and South met each other face to face in decades. However, the North…

By Jenna Gibson According to at least one poll, South Korea has a higher opinion of the United States than the United States has of itself. In its 2015 Global Indicators survey, Pew Research Center found that 84 percent of South Koreans view the U.S. favorably, while only 83 percent of Americans said the same.[1]…

By Phil Eskeland Recently, there has been some discussion among certain opinion makers in the United States claiming that the U.S. bears all the burden in defending allies against potential North Korean aggression.  Currently, the U.S. has approximately 28,500 troops stationed on the Korean peninsula.  Many other U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region participate in…

With the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II over the weekend, KEI takes a look back at what has changed on the Korean Peninsula from the 1945 to today. The three boxes compare a unified peninsula before the Korean War to North and South Korea in the 2010s. By looking at GDP,…