Politics

KEI’s 2021 Report on American Attitudes on the U.S.-ROK Alliance and North Korea Policy summarizes results from a survey commissioned by KEI and conducted by YouGov on May 6th to…

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…

At the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI), we foster connections to advance United States-Republic of Korea ties. Through bringing together people with an interest in topics of importance to…

South Korean views of Japan are neither uniform nor unified. Considering that national strategic identities are competing even within a single country, it is not strange at all that South…

What Happened In a May 10 speech, Moon explained that the opposition's mayoral victories in April reflected the public’s dissatisfaction with the ruling Democratic Party’s handling of the housing issue. In response, Moon promised to modify several housing policies. A poll from May 7 shows that many view the housing situation as one of the most important current issues, second…

What Happened On the week of April 25, North Korean defector group, Fighters for a Free North Korea, launched balloons with anti-DPRK messages into North Korea. These balloons were launched in defiance of South Korea’s anti-leaflet bill, which was finalized by the National Assembly in March in concert with efforts to improve relations with Pyongyang. Seoul’s Metropolitan…

Nearly a year ago, President Moon Jae-in’s approval ratings were soaring on the strength of the South Korean government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, with some polls showing public approval above 70 percent. His party, the liberal Democratic Party, had also won a supermajority in the South Korea’s legislative body in April 2020. At the…

In recent months, western media reporting has emphasized Kim Jong Un’s emotion-laden comments admitting both North Korea’s failure to meet economic goals and the severe hardships being experienced by its people. These statements have been characterized by some western observers as apologies, contrition and personal admissions of “his” failure. Such characterizations should not lead to…