Energy

Amid the maelstrom of the drama around diplomacy with North Korean, it’s easy to forget that South Korea and the United States are engaged in a fairly serious trade dispute…

2018 has been an incredibly eventful year for both the Koreas and the U.S.-Korea relationship: from North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics at the start of the year to…

Anyone who has spent time in Korea knows the term Yellow Dust. Sand from Mongolia sweeps across China, picking up pollutants and carrying them across borders. Every spring, Koreans bring…

South Korea’s nuclear energy industry has for decades been facilitated through close cooperation with counterparts in the United States under what is known as a “123 Agreement”.  Today South Korea’s…

One year ago, President Moon Jae-in launched the Korean New Deal, which aims to “set the foundation for Korea’s next 100 years.” The New Deal is a national development strategy with three main objectives. First, create jobs, both government-supported positions for low-skilled workers and jobs that support the transition towards a digital and green economy.…

The summit between President Joe Biden and President Moon Jae-in on May 21 was a resounding success.  Substantively and symbolically they reaffirmed the important strategic and economic relationship between Seoul and Washington.  But at the same time, they carefully avoided the differences between the two on how to proceed in dealing with North Korea, particularly…

Despite the completion of the internal policy review and a successful summit, newly-appointed North Korea envoy Sung Kim faces many of the same constraints that have long plagued U.S. North Korea policy. The Biden administration has rightly acknowledged that any engagement implies “a calibrated, practical approach.” But there are simply not that many policy levers…

What Happened On April 27, senior ROK government officials met to prepare for next month’s Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals (P4G) summit. At this preparatory meeting, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong reiterated President Moon’s statements on the importance of implementing South Korea’s carbon goals before next month’s summit. Despite Moon’s pledge to reduce emissions during a U.S.-led climate summit…