Foreign Relations

An old Korean proverb says that when two whales fight it is the shrimps whose backs are crushed. Maybe that proverb best describes Korea’s situation on the trade front these…

Geography alone would give Russia a prominent role in the Korean peninsula. The Russian Federation currently shares a recently demarcated 17-kilometer common border along the Tumen River with the Democratic…

Science diplomacy refers to international scientifi c cooperation aimed simultaneously at advancing scientifi c knowledge and improving and strengthening broader relations between participating countries and groups. Science diplomacy has proved…

Globalization is a hallmark of the twenty first-century world. As transportation and telecommunications grow in both efficiency and level of performance and as the ambit of the Internet expands, it…

By Troy Stangarone On May 1, South Korean President Park Geun-hye will travel to Iran for a three-day summit with the newly emerging regional power. Her visit will represent the first summit meeting between Iran and South Korea since the two nations established relations in 1962. However, while relations with Iran hold significant promise with…

By Jenna Gibson This week, South Korea became the first Asian country to sign a space cooperation pact with the United States, the first step for the two countries to collaborate on projects like Mars exploration, launching a moon lander, and expanding possible uses of the International Space Station. This announcement strengthens what is already…

By Kyle Ferrier The Panama Papers have already exposed a number of national leaders in schemes to hide personal wealth in shell companies and will be of greater consequence in early May when the full list of businesses created through Mossack Fonseca are made available. Most of those implicated have utilized the services of the…

By William Brown China surprised many Washington pundits by signing on in February to what looks like fairly tough trade sanctions on North Korea.  Most importantly, it agreed to put a halt to its purchases of coal and metal ores to the extent that these provide foreign exchange to North Korea’s military and to the…