Asia

Korea’s economy has been deteriorating more rapidly than previously expected. The nation saw its first negative growth in more than 10 years in the fourth quarter of 2008, and export…

What Happened On April 5, North Korea delivered on a North Korean promise. It launched a long range missile, also known as a Taepo-dong 2, a 3-stage rocket, in the…

Eyes and ears were on Beijing earlier this month, as the chief negotiators from China, North Korea, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and the United States met in Beijing for a…

Surrounded on three sides by water, Korea is an oceanic nation that depends on the import of 95 percent of its energy sources and the export of its manufactured goods…

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 Chad 0Carroll Last week the hosts of the world’s most popular political podcast, Naneun Ggomsuda, spoke to a packed audience in Washington DC as part of a tour that also took them to Boston, New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.  Focusing primarily on the satire of domestic South Korean politics, worldwide demand…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a historic visit to Burma last week to assess some of the reforms undertaken by the regime.  During her trip, she rightfully insisted that one of the changes the Burmese government must enact is to end its illicit activities with North Korea.  Korea watchers need…

By Troy Stangarone Years ago, The Economist developed the Big Mac Index to track how much a MacDonald’s Big Mac cost in countries around the world. The idea was to provide an understandable measure for purchasing power parity across countries since the Big Mac is a basic commodity that has spread across the world. Of…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz A new report with satellite images shows North Korea’s progress constructing a new light water reactor at Yongbyon. The North Koreans revealed the facility to Ambassador Jack Pritchard, KEI’s President, and in subsequent weeks, Dr. Siegfried Hecker of Stanford University in November 2010. Dr. Hecker in his trip report expressed his surprise…