North America

Long before BTS and Psy made their debut, a handful of entrepreneurs were laying the foundations for what would become the Korean Wave in the United States. With Korean pop culture…

Korea today leads the world in autos and electronics, but newly emerging manufacturers and protectionism threaten the country's position as a leading exporter. In search of innovative industries that will…

K-pop had an explosive year in 2018, but it didn't arise from a vacuum. Since 1998, one web community – Soompi – has been sharing the latest information about Korea's…

For the latest episode, Korean Kontext spoke to Korean-American actor James Kyson. Having made waves for his performance as Japanese character Ando Masahashi on hit NBC television series “Heroes”, Korean Kontext…

This report evaluates the rationale and implications of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on South Korean imports. The administration frames these tariffs as “reciprocal” measures necessary to correct perceived…

The key takeaways from this study are as follows: 1. Impact of Perception on Foreign Investment Attitudes: The study finds that individual perceptions of FDI at the state level play…

The Fall 2024 issue of Korea Policy, Broadening the Alliance: New Frontiers in US-South Korea Cooperation, is a special issue focused on the US-ROK alliance. The issue is motivated by…

The Joe Biden and Yoon Suk-yeol administrations have embraced the expansion of economic cooperation within the US-ROK alliance, leading to the emergence of South Korea as a valued technology partner…

By Robert R. King Final results on the 2018 U.S. Congressional elections are still being tallied, and as of November 15 two U.S. Senate races and eleven House races have still not been “called.”  The outcome of the congressional elections, however, is clear.  Republicans retained control of the U.S. Senate with a net gain of…

By Troy Stangarone In 1992, Jay Kim was elected from the newly drawn 41st Congressional District in Southern California, becoming the first Korean-American elected to Congress. As Americans go to the polls for the midterm elections, there is a real chance that a Korean-American will be elected to Congress for the first time since former…

By Jeff Zwick Korean language study is on the rise in the U.S. and throughout the world. Many experts have indicated that the growing popularity of Korean music, TV shows, and movies has likely influenced this surge in Korean language study. The Korean Wave started in the 1990s in Asian countries and later made its…

By Rose Kwak In 2005, the U.S Senate and House of Representatives passed a historic resolution to acknowledge and to honor Korean-American contributions to the United States, officially setting the date to January 13th for the day of commemoration. Since the first wave of Korean immigrants in the early 20th century, Korean-Americans have not only…