Domestic

With North Korea announcing to the world that it will be attempting to launch a second satellite for 2012, many analysts have been speculating as to why Pyongyang is so…

In this episode we spoke to The Economist’s South Korea correspondent, Daniel Tudor. Having been based in Korea for over a decade, Tudor has just finished writing one of the…

With worldwide familiarity of Korean pop culture increasing through the viral exposure of Korean musician Psy’s hit record “Gangnam Style”, this episode Korean Kontext speaks to Mark James Russell, author…

Korean Kontext caught up with Man Asian literary prize winner Shin Kyung-sook for a chat about her latest novel, “Please Look After Mom”.  Shin became the first woman and South…

After more than two years since the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 has finally been detected in North Korea. Despite strict border controls limiting the movement of people and goods to prevent entry of the novel coronavirus, state media reported on 12 May that the Omicron BA.2 variant had been found in a sample taken…

Billionaire Elon Musk recently drew attention to the falling number of births in South Korea, using it as a warning to other advanced economies. The country’s fertility rate in 2020 was 0.84 and the total population had begun to decline that year. However, the underlying problem is not, as Musk implies, people’s failure to “celebrate…

Seoul has hosted a Queer Festival annually since 2000, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in Korea that faces persistent social reprisals. But this year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government refused to extend a permit for the event, which the organizers see as motivated by discrimination. The most vocal opponents of the festival, and gay rights overall, are…

In May, South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of a plaintiff who sought back pay from his former employer who had capped his wage on the basis of his age. Korean firms practice a “peak wage” system, which gradually cuts the salary of older workers as they approach retirement. The policy is intended to…

The conversation will be livestreamed on YouTube.

Please join KEI and KIEP for a discussion about the first 10 years of KORUS and the future of the U.S.-Korea economic relationship.

Please join KEI for a discussion on American attitudes towards the Korean Peninsula after the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Please join KEI for a discussion on how COVID-19 has affected the growing rivalry between the United States and China.