Politics

Free elections are not part of North Korea’s political fabric, but Kim Jong-Il and his advisors are undoubtedly aware that the regime’s legitimacy will be challenged if it fails to…

They Did What?! On the morning of May 25, after giving the U.S. government one hour’s notice, North Korea detonated a nuclear device underground at the same northeast site of…

As it focused on rapid industrialization and accelerated economic growth, Korea had little leisure to worry about environmentally sustainable growth, with severe consequences: Korea is one of the top ten…

For Korea watchers—and particularly for those of us who worked closely on events associated with President Lee’s visit to Washington—April was a very rewarding month. After multiple protocol meetings, site…

With the Democratic and Republican presumptive nominees now identified, here is our comprehensive list of what the two candidates have said about the Korean peninsula since the beginning of the race. Hillary Clinton June 2, 2016 – “Take the threat posed by North Korea – perhaps the most repressive regime on the planet, run by…

By Juni Kim A recent survey published by three Asian American NGOs provided new insights into the voting preferences of Korean-Americans for the 2016 presidential election. These results highlight the continuing shift of Korean-American voters towards the Democratic Party over recent years. Although the Korean-American population in most states may be relatively small compared to…

By Juni Kim Against the backdrop of South Korea’s dramatic parliamentary elections last month, female representation in South Korea’s highest legislative body took a small but positive step forward. Fifty-one women were elected to the National Assembly, which represents the largest number of female representatives in both total number and percentage (17%) in South Korean…

By Thomas Lee The 1987 presidential election marked the first free national election in Korea since Park Chung-hee’s coup d’état in 1961. This election saw three contentious candidates: Noh Tae-woo, Kim Dae-jung, and Kim Young-sam. Due to a dispute between Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, the unified opposition ticket collapsed and they ran against each…