Asia

Both India’s and South Korea’s strategic choices are deeply influenced by the rapidly evolving Indo-Pacific construct, particularly amid a mounting U.S.-China rivalry. With India’s “Look/Act East” policy and South Korea’s…

The New Northern Policy, proclaimed by the South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Vladivostok in September 2017, is designed to boost economic cooperation between Russia and South Korea. However, two…

The Trump administration’s increased emphasis on the cost of the U.S.-South Korea alliance has called into question its appreciation of Seoul’s contributions and raised concerns about the future of the…

South Korea’s deliberate liberalization of migration controls has facilitated the entry and stay of new types of residents from various ethnic, political, and national backgrounds. With this demographic shift comes…

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 During the past several weeks, international viewers were treated to a series of broadcasts from major news outlets trumpeting every bellicose statement and video from Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).  This culminated two weeks ago, in the run-up to two North Korean anniversaries where “something” was expected to happen, with one…

By Jinho Park While North Korea ratchets up the tension in Northeast Asia, Kim Jong-un made the bold—though not surprising—decision of withdrawing all North Korean workers from the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Recently, South Korea and the United States together have called for a dialogue with North Korea. North Korea has dismissed the offer by denouncing…

The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, or KORUS FTA, has now been in effect for one year and, as with any agreement, it is natural to reflect on what the FTA has achieved. As the largest U.S. FTA in more than two decades, and one of the few with a major developed economy, the KORUS FTA…

This week’s Highlighted Trend features the visualization of a dramatic trend occurring in South Korea’s balance of trade with its partners over the last thirty years. KITA data reveals that over time, South Korea is undergoing an increasing level of trade polarization (i.e. greater degrees of trade imbalances) vis- à-vis its trading partners.  China and…