Politics

The reunification of the Korean Peninsula has been an important aspiration of the Korean people on both sides of the 38th parallel for nearly six decades. The emotional family reunions…

The papers in this volume address some of the key issues that impacted Korea in 2012 and some important trends that will influence future policies. In the first year following…

The 2012 electi on saw the rising prominence of Korean Americans as an increasingly visible force in U.S. politi cs. This paper discusses key features of the Korean American vote,…

This article outlines and analyzes the various factors that have shaped agriculture and rural life in South Korea. This paper first outlines the historical role of the government, farmers and…

“Previously, all the people used to sing the song We Are the Happiest in the World, feeling optimistic about the future with confidence in the great Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. I will work with devotion to ensure that the past era does not remain as a moment in history but is re-presented in the…

By Troy Stangarone In the Chinese zodiac, 2016 is the year of the Fire Monkey. Fire Monkeys are said to be ambitious and adventurous, as well as irritable. Despite Donald Trump’s not having been born in the year of the Monkey, looking back, his victory in the U.S. presidential election that year may yet seem…

By Jaeho Jeon The South Korean economy is drifting like a ship which has lost its captain while the ‘Choi Soon-sil Scandal,’ a civilian who has no official title, has shaken South Korea for over a month. President Park Geun-hye's approval rating has fell to 4 percent, an all-time low for elected Presidents in South…

By Troy Stangarone As it begins to sink in that the next U.S. president will be Donald Trump, one question that will be on the mind of those in Northeast Asia is what will Donald Trump’s North Korea policy look like? While North Korea was a more significant topic during the 2016 election than in…