Clint Work is a Fellow and Director of Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI). In addition to his work on KEI’s publications and publication-related programs, Clint leads KEI’s University Outreach and conducts research, writing, and public engagement focused on US-Korea relations.
Before joining KEI, Clint served as a Fellow in the Henry L. Stimson Center’s 38 North Program from 2020-2022, where he focused on issues related to the US-ROK alliance transformation, led Congressional engagement about peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, and organized and moderated a military working group centered on North Korea’s evolving “checkerboard” threat. He also worked with a broad range of universities and state and local organizations throughout the country to foster public engagement on US-Korea relations. Prior to joining Stimson, Dr. Work was an assistant professor at the University of Utah’s Asia Campus in South Korea and the regular foreign policy writer for The Diplomat Magazine’s Koreas page. He holds a Doctorate in International Studies from the University of Washington and a Master’s in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and his work focuses on the Korean Peninsula, US-Korean relations, East Asia, and US foreign policy. He is currently writing on the history and evolution of the US force presence on the Korean Peninsula and the US-ROK alliance transformation in the post-Cold War era. In addition to his academic publications, he has written extensively for popular media, including the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, The Diplomat Magazine, The National Interest, 38 North, and Sino-NK. He regularly provides commentary to U.S. and foreign media outlets, such as The Economist, Time Magazine, NPR, and Arirang News.
Building on last year’s “Rethinking Korea initiative,” in 2024 KEI will continue to explore the evolution of US-Korea relations, Korea’s place in the world, rapid changes in Korean society, and…
Building on last year’s “Rethinking Korea initiative,” in 2024 KEI will continue to explore the evolution of US-Korea relations, Korea’s place in the world, rapid changes in Korean society, and…
Relations between Russia and North Korea are growing closer. Pyongyang has been publically supportive of Russia’s war in Ukraine and is reported to have supplied Moscow with millions of artillery…
KEI is pleased to hold a program on Economic Security and U.S.-China Competition: The View From North Korea. One country is conspicuously missing from existing discussions about the dilemmas and…
Seoul has gradually adopted a more outspoken position regarding the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and framed it in increasingly expansive terms—as a regional and global…
KEI’S SPECIAL PROJECT ON THE SOUTH KOREAN NUCLEAR ARMAMENT DEBATE South Korea’s nuclear armament debate received renewed attention in 2023. But, this issue is one that has animated Korean politics,…
KEI’s Fellow & Director of Academic Affairs Dr. Clint Work gave a virtual presentation on the “Korea-US Alliance & The United Nations Command (UNC)” at a conference organized by the…
This article was published in National Interest on August 27, 2024 The United Nations Command (UNC), a U.S.-led multinational command that enforces the Korean Armistice Agreement and coordinates international contributions to maintain peace…
This article was published in Korea on Point on July 21, 2024. Higher Expectations, Starker Choices President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attendance at the 75th NATO Summit amplified several existing and…
This article was published in The Diplomat on March 30, 2024. Nowadays conversations with South Korean counterparts begin and end with concerns about former U.S. President Donald Trump’s possible return…
South Korea’s rapprochement with Japan and North Korea’s embrace of Russia significantly shaped events on the Korean Peninsula in 2023. Both promise to have a substantial impact on events in the coming year. After years of declining relations, South Korea took the initiative to mend ties with Japan by proposing a path for resolving the…
The war in Ukraine directly and indirectly impacted policy and perceptions on and around the Korean Peninsula, starting with Russia’s invasion in early 2022 and continuing apace in 2023. Although the war has provided Seoul the opportunity to enhance its contributions to global security, simultaneously it presents challenges that accelerate its security concerns closer to…
The war in Ukraine directly and indirectly impacted policy and perceptions on and around the Korean Peninsula, starting with Russia’s invasion in early 2022 and continuing apace in 2023. In complex and interconnected ways, the war has affected both Koreas, but in the case of North Korea the trends are not promising. For its part,…
During the arrival ceremony for his state visit, President Yoon Suk Yeol rightly observed the ROK-U.S. alliance is not a transactional relationship but an alliance of values or, as he later remarked, an everlasting partnership. However, effusive language aside, it’s a partnership that includes tradeoffs. And such tradeoffs were evident in the Washington Declaration. While…