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,…

President Trump announced Ohio Senator J. D. Vance as his running mate last week ahead of the Republican National Convention. This gives a clearer direction to what his second administration’s economic policies may look like, while also imparting a greater weight to the effects it would have on Vance’s heartland base. The first Trump administration…

A $32 million subsidy to Hyundai Mobis, a subsidiary group of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group that specializes in auto parts manufacturing, from the Biden administration on July 11 is set to help secure US electric vehicle (EV) supply chains. It came as part of  $1.7 billion in Domestic Automotive Manufacturing Conversion grants from the…

I recently traveled to Dallas, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma to give talks on my new book on the US-South Korea alliance. It is increasingly difficult for me to travel around the United States without discovering new aspects of American interactions with the Korean Peninsula. As KEI fulfills our mission of promoting knowledge and understanding about…

The world is in a technology revolution surrounding artificial intelligence (AI). Companies are competing to scoop up the best AI talent, and each is looking to be the first to shore up partnerships with the top firms. Among others, Meta with Dell to cooperate on Llama 2; Apple with Google to incorporate their Gemini AI;…