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 Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI), with the generous support of the Korea Foundation, organized six “Vision Group” roundtable conversations with leading American scholars and commentators to discuss the…

Commentators have pointed to the “Trump Effect” for falling international student enrollment in the U.S. higher education sector. When taking a closer look at student mobility trends from South Korea,…

KEI’s 2020 Report on American Attitudes Toward the Korean Peninsula focuses on U.S. views on relations with South Korea, U.S. awareness of South Korean brands and cultural products, and views…

The 2012 electi on saw the rising prominence of Korean Americans as an increasingly visible force in U.S. politi cs. This paper discusses key features of the Korean American vote,…

The beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term presages a major reordering of U.S.-South Korea economic relations. The imposition of reciprocal tariffs on Korea and the addition of import duties on steel and automobiles signify a sharp turn away from the playbook previously dictated by the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). At the same…

The first quarter of 2025 marked the transition into what will likely be seen as a new global economic reordering. President Donald Trump began his second term in the White House on January 20, and the United States and South Korea continued their rapid tempo of investment partnerships and collaborative agreements. Meanwhile, policy changes at…

Over the past two decades, the United States has played a uniquely important role in sustaining the global movement for truth, justice, and accountability for the people of North Korea. Today, that movement is in crisis. In an unprecedented turn of events, the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) and partners across the…

There appears to be a bright spot amid the global market turmoil after President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements on April 2. In the first-ever phone call between Trump and his acting South Korean counterpart, Han Duck-soo, the two leaders mentioned shipbuilding as a potential area of cooperation in the aftermath of the tariff…