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 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…

This paper elucidates how Washington and Seoul cooperate on AI and quantum technologies, both recognized as critical emerging technologies essential to their national interests. Technology cooperation is denoted as government-to-government…

The market roiled, web searches spiked, and the media was in a frenzy after President Donald Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs. Not surprisingly, the 10 percent baseline tariff on all goods with an additional “discounted” reciprocal tariff generated mostly negative reactions. As the president held up a large placard explaining that nearly every country…

From March 19 to 21, 2025, the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) led a Future of Korea (FOK) delegation to Albuquerque, New Mexico, with KEI’s Economic Policy Analyst Tom Ramage, the U.S. Department of State’s Military Advisor for Japanese, Korean, and Mongolian Affairs Ki Suh Jung, and the South Korean Embassy’s First Secretary Hae…

The United States is poised to escalate its trade brinkmanship once again. On April 2, the Donald Trump administration is expected to unveil a sweeping new tariff regime under the banner of “reciprocal tariffs,” aimed at countries with significant trade surpluses with the United States—including close allies like South Korea. White House officials purport they…

Shipbuilding is quickly emerging as an area for potential cooperation between the United States and South Korea. The former needs ships, and the latter is a major manufacturer of them, which makes it natural that the two allies would partner on this issue. Ships are critical to facilitating international trade and defending the maritime lines…