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…

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…

The security alliance between the United States and South Korea, once focused primarily on military defense, is evolving to include economic security and technological cooperation. The evolving partnership between the…

Policy uncertainty in the United States has increased, which is influencing the long-term outlook for South Korean multinationals’ investment decisions. I use recent data to quantify the magnitude and drivers of this uncertainty, including trade, monetary, and fiscal policies. Then, I examine how firms may respond, such as aligning with U.S. policy initiatives, adopting a…

Amid all the talk of tariffs and investments in the United States, numerous reports and analyses have pointed to the benefits of deep socioeconomic linkages between the United States and South Korea. As President Donald Trump noted as early as 2019, “Hyundai, Samsung, CJ, Doosan, and SK Group… have created more than 50,000 brand new…

South Korean officials proposed “support[ing] the revitalization of the U.S. shipbuilding industry” as an avenue for cooperation during the two-plus-two tariff negotiations between the United States and South Korea on April 24, 2025. Moving forward, future negotiations by the United States on trade will continue to involve partnerships in areas where allied countries such as…

On May 8, President Donald Trump announced the first bilateral trade deal since unveiling the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2. The agreement with the United Kingdom, labeled as an “Economic Prosperity Deal” rather than a free trade agreement (FTA), portends what future trade deals may look like, particularly for close allies and trading…