Foreign Relations

The year 2007 displayed remarkable progress in Korea-U.S. economic relations on many different levels. At the global level, our two countries have worked closely together to meet international challenges. For…

Korea’s economy in the year 2005 demonstrated that it is picking up significant positive momentum, although the full-year performance in 2005 showed mixed results. Korea’s real gross domestic product (GDP)…

This article is aimed at analyzing, in a comparative perspective, the economic reforms undertaken by Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) and Cuba since the demise of…

This paper compares Sino–South Korean management of bilateral economic and political tensions; it argues that China’s WTO entry has provided an external institutional framework for managing disputes on the economic…

Since democratization in 1987, South Korea’s progressive parties have produced less than half of the presidents elected to office. During their brief tenures, however, these administrations have deployed troops to Iraq, negotiated the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and overseen the expansion of the country’s defense budget and capabilities. Despite this record, South Korea’s progressive foreign…

What Happened: Anti-China sentiments are increasing over allegations that Korean athletes at the Winter Olympics are being treated unfairly to advantage Chinese competitors. In response to widespread discussions on these incidents, candidates in the upcoming presidential election made public comments on these allegations. South Koreans were further infuriated with the display of traditional Korean attire…

A Chinese woman dressed in traditional Korean clothing (hanbok) at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony ignited another wave of popular backlash towards China in Korea. South Korean viewers accused China of cultural appropriation, while China claimed it was representing the ethnic Korean minority. Coming on the heels of similar incidents in which China…

What Happened: On February 1, Tokyo moved forward with the recommendation that a gold and silver mine on Sado Island that had used forced labor during WWII receive UNESCO heritage status. Seoul described Tokyo’s move as an attempt “to cause conflict with member states and politicize UNESCO.” In 2015, the coal mine on Hashima Island…