North America

In this episode, Korean Kontext spoke to Korean-American actor Steven Yeun.  Having acted in several high profile TV shows, Yeun’s interest in acting originated during his freshman year at Kalamazoo College after watching…

On Friday January 13, the Korea Economic Institute (KEI) celebrated Korean American day at the Newseum, in Washington, DC.  As part of the celebration, KEI recognized three Korean-American pioneers in…

This episode features a conversation with Sam Yoon, Executive Director of the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA). Prior to his work with NACEDA, Sam served on the…

In this episode we hear from Korean-American filmmaker Michael Kang, who made his directorial debut at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival with The Motel, which was awarded the Humanitas Prize…

The United States and South Korea are close allies, committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and home to advanced industrial economies. Pragmatic cooperation on clean energy technologies would aid their…

For the United States and South Korea, aligning efforts in biotechnology and biomanufacturing within the strategic alliance will support shared goals for technological leadership, economic competitiveness, and supply chain resiliency.…

Although the US-ROK alliance is critical for the security of the Indo-Pacific region, the close bilateral military relationship has not historically extended into outer space. Policies and regulations dating to…

In the past decade, the US and South Korea faced a relatively narrow set of challenges in cyberspace, notably North Korea’s cyber crime facilitating sanctions evasion. In the next decade,…

“You should get rid of the CHIP Act and whatever’s left over, Mr. Speaker, you should use it to reduce debt. Or any other reason you want to.” This pronouncement from President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress in his second term fully unmasked his administration’s trade 2.0 agenda. If realized, the repeal of the…

There is much speculation about the future of certain funding awards and tax breaks under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA is a federally enacted legislation, meaning its repeal would require an act of Congress. However, so far under Trump 2.0, the executive branch has been testing the full extent of its power.…

In addition to chips and pharmaceuticals, U.S. President Donald Trump has officially stated that he plans on introducing a tariff of roughly 25 percent on cars entering the United States, beginning April 2. Its imposition is likely to severely affect U.S.-South Korea economic relations, as well as the U.S. economy itself. Passenger vehicles have constituted…

On Monday evening, President Donald Trump unveiled 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the United States, eliminating the exemptions that had allowed South Korea to export steel under a quota. Representing an opening salvo of second-term trade actions impacting Korea and other countries, the tariffs will deeply affect the United States’ ability…