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…

By Robert R. King For the past 15 years, the United Nations has been the leading forum in pressing North Korea for improvement and change in its human rights record.  Recent actions on the part of the Administration raise questions about whether the United States is backing away from this earlier principled stand. The UN…

By Yonho Kim Last month, Pope Francis’s indication of his interest in visiting North Korea drew keen attention throughout the world. In response to an invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un verbally conveyed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the pope said he will be “available for the trip” promising his answer to an…

By Robert R. King We are at the peak of the annual hurricane season, and this year looks to be another painful reminder of Mother Nature’s power.  The Southeast United States has just seen one of the largest and most destructive hurricanes in recent memory.  In the Pacific hurricane Lane dropped record-breaking amounts rain on…

By Robert R. King Earlier this week, on August 15, an advance team of 18 officials from the South Korean Red Cross organization and the South Korean Ministry of Unification left Seoul for the resort at Mount Kumgang in North Korea.  At this location in just a few days, almost two hundred family members from…