Security & Defense Archives - Korea Economic Institute of America

Security, Trade, and AI: New Geopolitics for the U.S.-South Korea Alliance

The Indo-Pacific region is entering a period of sustained contestation across the security, economic, and technological domains. Great-power competition, evolving trade and industrial policy, rapid...

Ellen Kim

November 2, 2026

Event

Troy Stangarone on Trump’s Diminished Leverage over North Korea

KEI Visiting Senior Fellow Troy Stangarone wrote in The Dispatch about why Washington’s leverage over Pyongyang has eroded since President Trump’s first-term summits with Kim...

Troy Stangarone

August 25, 2026

News

Troy Stangarone on Trump’s Weakened Hand Going into North Korea Talks

KEI Visiting Senior Fellow Troy Stangarone spoke with the South China Morning Post about why President Trump enters any talks with North Korea from a...

Troy Stangarone

August 25, 2026

News

Scott Snyder on Trump’s Snub of Seoul and Overtures to Pyongyang

KEI President and CEO Scott Snyder spoke with DW News about President Trump’s move to scale down joint military exercises and reopen contact with Kim...

Scott Snyder

August 25, 2026

News

Ellen Kim on Trump’s Order to Scale Back U.S.-South Korea Drills

KEI Senior Fellow Ellen Kim spoke with Reuters about President Trump’s order to reduce U.S. participation in the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise. “Trump is trying...

Ellen Kim

August 25, 2026

News

Troy Stangarone on Kim Jong Un’s Shrinking Need for Washington

Financial News drew on KEI Visiting Senior Fellow Troy Stangarone’s analysis of why Kim Jong Un no longer depends on talks with the United States,...

Troy Stangarone

August 25, 2026

News

Troy Stangarone on Trump’s Intent to Resume Talks with Kim Jong Un

The Munhwa Ilbo featured KEI Visiting Senior Fellow Troy Stangarone among four U.S. experts assessing President Trump’s decision to scale back U.S.-South Korea military exercises...

Troy Stangarone

August 25, 2026

News

Scott Snyder on Trump’s Turn Back to Kim Jong Un

KEI President and CEO Scott Snyder spoke with The New York Times about President Donald Trump’s renewed outreach to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un...

Scott Snyder

August 25, 2026

News

Washington’s Cold Peace Is Seoul’s Hot Risk

A negotiated accommodation with a nuclear-armed North Korea may become unavoidable for the United States and South Korea. But an agreement is not the same...

Shin-wha Lee

August 24, 2026

Analysis

Evaluating the Future of U.S.-South Korea-Japan Trilateralism

The August 2023 Camp David summit produced the first standalone trilateral agenda among the United States, South Korea, and Japan, built on commitments to annual...

August 13, 2026

Event

North Korea Doubles Down on Its Alliance With Russia, For Now

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has doubled down on his military and strategic alliance with Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime, betting that this...

Daniel Sneider

August 12, 2026

Analysis

South Korea Wants to Be a NATO Partner, Not Just a Vendor

South Korea is now the second-largest arms supplier to NATO’s European members, but the sales remain a series of bilateral transactions rather than incorporated within...

Troy Stangarone

August 6, 2026

Analysis

South Korea Is Building for the Alliance and for Itself

The United States and South Korea describe the latter’s defense buildup with the same enthusiasm but mean two different things. American officials call it “alliance...

Daniel Sneider

July 20, 2026

Analysis

The Path Ahead for U.S.-South Korea Shipbuilding

Leading defense and maritime policy analysts will assess what the U.S. shipbuilding and shipping industry needs to rebuild long-term industrial capacity and naval readiness, including...

July 14, 2026

Event

A New Risk Calculus for the Korean Peninsula

State-sanctioned violence and militarism form the foundation of the rejuvenated North Korea-Russia partnership, and that should shape how U.S. and South Korean alliance planners read...

Benjamin R. Young

July 9, 2026

Analysis