Foreign Relations

On 21 June 2005 the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam flew outside of Blair House, across the street from the White House. Standing still on a windless day,…

The past decade in the Korea-U.S. alliance relationship has not been smooth. Since the late 1990s, Koreans have been raising issues related to the past or current actions of the…

As the reigning consensus has it, the U.S.-ROK alliance is one of the most successful of its kind in history. The alliance not only succeeded in defending South Korea from…

The year 2006 witnessed increasing concern among both Americans and South Koreans that their alliance of more than 50 years might be in jeopardy. Differences between the two governments over…

After several years of frozen diplomacy, the current Korean government's drive to reset relations with Japan seems to be on an upswing. Even before taking office, President Yoon Suk-Yeol dispatched a delegation of aides to meet with Japanese officials in Tōkyō. He followed that with attendance at a trilateral meeting with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio…

With President Yoon Suk-yeol’s stated goal of improving Korea-Japan relations, policy observers point to the long-standing historical legacies issues as the key hurdles to reconciliation. In particular, recent talks between the ROK Foreign Minister and his Japanese counterpart stressed the importance of resolving the issue of compensation for Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor.…

On July 4, the foreign ministers of South Korea and Mexico agreed to expand economic cooperation. Building on the resumption of free trade agreement negotiations earlier this year, the two nations emphasized economic security and supply chains as areas for increased collaboration. In addition to directly responding to global concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic’s ongoing…

Newly inaugurated president Yoon Suk Yeol made his international debut at the NATO summit held in Madrid, Spain. South Korea and three other Indo-Pacific states were invited to summit ahead of publication of the alliance's new "strategic concept," that mentions China for the first time. Experts say South Korea can expand its longstanding relations with…