Politics

North Korea is a country easy to approach emotionally. For anyone with even a little twinge of conscience toward human rights, it evokes disgust. For many in South Korea, who…

Since the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994 there have been numerous predictions that the collapse of the North Korean political system would be imminent, yet the Kim dynasty continues…

Despite an inferior information communication environment, North Korea has a high capacity to conduct robust cyber operations aimed at collecting foreign intelligence, disrupting foreign comput-ers, information and communication systems, networks…

This PDF is the full publication and contains all of the following sections: KEI Board of Directors KEI Advisory Council About the Korea Economic Institute of America Preface by KEI…

By Robert R. King Two prominent North Korean defectors were elected to membership in South Korea’s National Assembly in elections held on April 15th.  This is the first time that two defectors will sit in the South Korean legislature.  Thae Yong-ho was elected to represent the Gangnam District of Seoul, and Ji Seong Ho was…

By Ingyeong Park In the midst of a global pandemic, South Korea is set to hold a general election today.  This a major undertaking as South Korea attempts to thread the needle between ensuring suffrage to all eligible voters (including people who may be infected with COVID-19) and keeping uninfected voters safe from exposure. Measures…

By Soo Jin Hwang Last year, South Korea adopted a new mixed-member proportional representation (PR) system. The revision aimed to improve representation by making it easier for previously underrepresented political parties to win a larger share of seats in the National Assembly. Simultaneously, it was a politically advantageous move for the ruling Democratic Party (DP),…

This briefing comes from Korea View, a weekly newsletter published by the Korea Economic Institute. Korea View aims to cover developments that reveal trends on the Korean Peninsula but receive little attention in the United States. If you would like to sign up, please find the online form here. What Happened President Moon Jae-in’s approval rating fell 5% between…