Asia

This paper proposes a framework for conceptualizing middle powerism in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, using South Korea as an example. The paper argues that the systemic transformation…

In the context of growing US-China tensions, South Korean administrations have opted for degrees of strategic ambiguity, refraining from overt actions that suggest South Korea is taking sides. While strategic…

KEI’s 2021 Report on American Attitudes Toward the Korean Peninsula summarizes results from a survey commissioned by KEI and conducted by YouGov on August 30th to September 7th, 2021. The…

South Korea and Japan share common challenges and liberal democratic values but have been unable to build a close security relationship, due mainly to their political differences. This paper examines…

Recently released data from the Department of Commerce confirmed that the United States achieved record-level export of services to South Korea in 2018 – $24.5 billion. Combined with the trade…

We imagine North Korea as a country that is carrying on not only a conflict left over from the Cold War, but also a decrepit legacy economy from the past.…

The second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on February 27 and 28 ended without an agreement. The key difference in the two leaders’ negotiating…

As the complex negotiations between North Korea, the United States, and South Korea continue, it is worthwhile to review what the current U.S. presence on the Korean Peninsula looks like.…

By Phil Eskeland On August 1, 1975, 35 nations representing the rival Eastern and Western bloc alliances[1] signed an accord that created the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) designed to reduce tensions and promote dialogue during the height of the Cold War as part of the “détente” policy of the 1970’s.  The…

By Troy Stangarone South Korea’s ambition to become a regional free trade hub in East Asia took another step towards reality as South Korea and China announced the outline of a conclusion of their bilateral FTA negotiations at the opening of the 2014 APEC summit. Once the FTA has been implemented, Korea will find itself…

By Adam Cathcart As the rest of the world gets accustomed to seeing Kim Jong-un walk with a cane, we might do well to figure out what, if anything, is changing about the way that the broader North Korean state engages with the economic powerhouses that engulf its southern and northern peripheries. KEI's Director of…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz After not being seen in public for over a month, surely Kim Jong-un would be at the 69th anniversary celebrations for the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea today. But, there was no sighting. The conspicuous absence of Kim Jong-un will continue to fuel speculation about his health, about the current…