Foreign Relations

Last year was a special year for Korea and Italy as it marked the 130th anniversary of the Korean-Italian diplomatic relationship. Today, Korea and Italy share similar economic features including…

2014 marked the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Korea. This paper provides a historical overview of the relations between the two countries and gives two examples of…

The beginning of Korea-Russia economic relations go back 130 years, however, for most of the last century, the relationship between Korea and Russia has been curtailed due to historical events.…

German unification is often used as a preview on what is going to happen in Korea. Such a position is rejected in this article. Not only have the costs of…

This is the third in a 10 part series looking at how the issues identified in KEI’s annual “10 Issues to Watch for on the Korean Peninsula” series developed in 2021. The original “10 Issues” piece can be found here. As U.S.-China competition remained unabated in 2021, South Korea continued to find itself navigating difficult…

This is the second in a 10 part series looking at how the issues identified in KEI’s annual “10 Issues to Watch for on the Korean Peninsula” series developed in 2021. The original “10 Issues” piece can be found here. Although it is commonly understood that the Biden Administration carried out a policy review regarding…

What Happened Public health mandate requiring vaccine passes to enter restaurants, grocery stores, and cafes incited backlash from foreign nationals whose overseas vaccinations were not recognized. Seoul amended its vaccine pass requirement for foreign nationals after a U.S.-led embassy protest. Prior to the changes, the U.S. military issued its own vaccine documents that were recognized by South Korean…

Koreans head to the polls in March to elect the next president of the Republic of Korea. Current President Moon Jae-in is not permitted to stand again, and the election to choose his successor will be a close one. Polls conducted in recent weeks give Yoon Seok-youl of the conservative People Power Party a lead,…