Human Rights

The Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI), with the generous support of the Korea Foundation, organized six “Vision Group” roundtable conversations with leading American scholars and commentators to discuss the…

KEI’s 2020 Report on American Attitudes Toward the Korean Peninsula focuses on U.S. views on relations with South Korea, U.S. awareness of South Korean brands and cultural products, and views…

The states of Southeast Asia are on the front lines of competition not only in regard to the balance of military and political power, as analyzed in Section I, but…

Although coercion is a key element in the governing strategy of the North Korean party-state, the authorities in Pyongyang do not hold political power at the barrel of a gun…

The United States North Korea Human Rights Act was originally adopted by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush on October 18, 2004. The legislation called for appointment of a Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights and gave directives for US government agencies to encourage human rights in the North. The legislation authorized…

As the worst of the COVID pandemic begins to fade, North Korea’s weak health care system and its lack of wide-spread vaccinations against the disease are apparently now able to handle the return home of North Koreans who were away from their home country when the COVID pandemic initially broke out.  North Koreans were officially…

2,367 days ago (6 years and 6 months ago), the last U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights left office after serving in that position for over 7 years.  (By way of full disclosure, I was that last Special Envoy.)  The North Korean Human Rights Act, which established the position of Special Envoy, was…

On May 17, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a confirmation hearing for five individuals nominated by President Joe Biden to be ambassadorial representatives of the United States.  One of the nominees whose confirmation was under consideration was Julie Turner who was nominated by the President on January 23 of this year to be the…