Korean Kontext

In April 2023, the United States and South Korea marked the 70th anniversary of an alliance that has served the strategic interests of both countries. Their relationship has expanded beyond security issues to include trade, technology, and other important policy areas. However, the alliance now faces challenges from changing notions of national interests and political polarization in both countries. On January 16, 2024, KEI hosted a discussion with Scott Snyder, author of The U.S.-Korea Alliance: Why It May Fail and Why It Must Not, on what domestic political developments in both countries mean for the future of the U.S.-Korea alliance.

Building on last year’s "Rethinking Korea initiative," in 2024 KEI will continue to explore the evolution of US-Korea relations, Korea's place in the world, rapid changes in Korean society, and a fast changing geopolitical and strategic landscape. The initiative involves both retrospective inquiry as well as prospective analysis about future trends. Our guest today is intently focused on the role of armed coercion as a tool of foreign policy employed by both the United States and China and how other states perceive and respond to it. James A. Siebens is a Fellow with Stimson Center’s Reimagining US Grand Strategy program, where he leads the Defense Strategy and Planning project. His research focuses on grand strategy, military coercion, and gray zone conflict. Building on a co-edited volume titled, Military Coercion and U.S. Foreign Policy: The Use of Force Short of War (Routledge 2020), a book on U.S. strategy and military operations since the end of the Cold War, James is also the editor of China’s Use of Armed Coercion: To Win Without Fighting (Routledge 2023), a recently published study on China’s use of military and paramilitary forces for purposes of coercion. The second part of our conversation focuses on the application of his analysis to the Korean Peninsula – both historically and in a more contemporary context – and James’ thoughts on what the United States has gotten right and wrong on China and some related policy recommendations. The book, "China's Use of Armed Coercion: To Win Without Fighting," can be found here. A shorter piece by James A. Siebens examining the effectiveness of China's use of armed coercion may be found here.

Building on last year’s "Rethinking Korea initiative," in 2024 KEI will continue to explore the evolution of US-Korea relations, Korea's place in the world, rapid changes in Korean society, and a fast changing geopolitical and strategic landscape. The initiative involves both retrospective inquiry as well as prospective analysis about future trends. Our guest today is intently focused on the role of armed coercion as a tool of foreign policy employed by both the United States and China and how other states perceive and respond to it. James A. Siebens is a Fellow with Stimson Center’s Reimagining US Grand Strategy program, where he leads the Defense Strategy and Planning project. His research focuses on grand strategy, military coercion, and gray zone conflict. Building on a co-edited volume titled, Military Coercion and U.S. Foreign Policy: The Use of Force Short of War (Routledge 2020), a book on U.S. strategy and military operations since the end of the Cold War, James is also the editor of China’s Use of Armed Coercion: To Win Without Fighting (Routledge 2023), a recently published study on China’s use of military and paramilitary forces for purposes of coercion. Our conversation is split into two parts, the first of which focuses on: the motivation behind his latest book project and what sets it apart from other work on China; key terms and concepts used throughout the book, such as coercion, deterrence and compellence; and the overall content and structure of the book as well as some of the representative examples of China’s use of armed coercion and whether they were effective. The book, "China's Use of Armed Coercion: To Win Without Fighting," can be found here. A shorter piece by James A. Siebens examining the effectiveness of China's use of armed coercion may be found here.

For the first time since the end of the Cold War, North Korea has embraced relations with Russia as a key component of its foreign policy and domestic development. However, Russia’s need for North Korean artillery and weapons to conduct its war in Ukraine also create a different dynamic between the two countries than during the Cold War. This new dynamic and the unknown outcome of the war in Ukraine raise questions about the long-term viability of deepening ties between North Korea and Russia, as well as Pyongyang’s choice to deepen relations with Moscow and to a lesser extent Beijing, rather than seeking to improve relations with Washington and Seoul. On February 8, 2024, KEI hosted a discussion on these and other issues related to the growing relationship between North Korea and Russia with long-time North Korea expert Dr. Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University.

On August 17, 2023, KEI held a program on the U.S.-South Korea-North Korea Strategic Triangle in the Indo-Pacific Era. The program featured Scott Snyder’s work to help better understand: the evolution in perceptions of the three main actors in the U.S.-South Korea-North Korea triangle, including their respective approaches to one another and interactions with China; the main impacts of U.S.-China rivalry on their respective postures and priorities; and the future trajectory of both U.S.-South Korea-North Korea triangular relations and great power relations in the region.

On August 30, 2023, KEI hosted a discussion with Prof. Rory Medcalf on South Korea’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and Middle Power Convergence with Australia. Over the past decade, the concept of the “Indo-Pacific” has replaced the late 20th century “Asia-Pacific” as a central frame of reference for strategy and external policy. Although the Indo-Pacific is often associated particularly with Japan and its influential prime minister the late Abe Shinzo, in fact, Australia was the first country to formally recognize the Indo-Pacific as its regional security environment. As a fellow middle power and independent-minded U.S. ally, with its own geopolitical complexities to navigate, Australia provides an illuminating example for South Korea as it operationalizes its Indo-Pacific strategy.

Despite being industrial powerhouses, Korea and Japan are both resource-poor nations with limited domestic sources of energy. Powering their economies required both to develop supply chains for fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewable energy to power their economies. However, different domestic political constraints resulted in differing approaches to achieving energy security. On September 21, 2023, KEI hosted a discussion on Korea and Japan’s efforts to achieve energy security with Dr. Seong-ik Oh who discussed his new book, Overseas Energy Investment of Korea and Japan: How did Two East Asian Resources-Rare Industrial Giants Respond to Energy Security Challenges.

Relations between Russia and North Korea are growing closer. Pyongyang has been publically supportive of Russia’s war in Ukraine and is reported to have supplied Moscow with millions of artillery shells. Kim Jong-un met with Vladimir Putin at Vostochny Cosmodrome and discussed deepening their military relationship and providing Russia with additional military supplies. These deepening ties also raise a series of questions related to geostrategic competition in Northeast Asia, the war in Ukraine, the future of UN sanctions, and the prospects for North Korean denuclearization. On October 5, 2023, KEI hosted a discussion of these and other pressing questions about North Korea’s deepening ties with Russia.

KEI is pleased to hold a program on Economic Security and U.S.-China Competition: The View From North Korea. One country is conspicuously missing from existing discussions about the dilemmas and opportunities that U.S.-China strategic competition poses to various stakeholders in matters related to global economic security: North Korea. North Korea is an interesting piece of the puzzle because it is certainly not a key player in the regional or global economy. Quite unlike its neighboring states, North Korea’s place in global supply chains is minimal at best. Yet, North Korea remains important because it is a major player in the Northeast Asian security landscape. Any key political and economic decisions this nuclear-armed state makes in this volatile region have profound implications for the security and economy of the world. And Pyongyang’s views of U.S.-China competition and its economic and political fallout will be a central component of its near- to long-term policy calculus. North Korea’s view of the Russia factor in U.S.-China competition and the shifting global order is also of relevance. Listen to KEI’s October 11, 2023 program with Rachel Minyoung Lee, which offers a discussion of how North Korea perceives “economic security” and U.S.-China strategic competition; how its views of U.S.-China relations and the changing global order have reshaped Pyongyang’s foreign and economic policy; and the opportunities and challenges that the geopolitics and geoeconomics of U.S.-China competition pose to Pyongyang.

Seoul has gradually adopted a more outspoken position regarding the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and framed it in increasingly expansive terms—as a regional and global issue yet also directly linked to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula. Nevertheless, the U.S.-ROK alliance faces a gap between such rhetoric and its political, military, and operational preparedness to navigate an actual conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan and the attendant risk of a simultaneous conflict in Korea. KEI Fellow and Director of Academic Affairs, Clint Work, sat down to discuss his recent Korea Policy paper, Rhetoric vs. Reality: Seoul & Washington’s Strategic Alignment on Taiwan, with Markus Garlauskas, director of the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

From K-pop to K-drama and food, Korean culture has taken the globe by storm. Korean artists are topping the Billboard charts, Korean films are winning Oscars, and Korean kimbap at Trader Joe’s went viral online. Cultural interest is also behind the growth of students learning Korean in the United States when interest in foreign languages is going down in general. What drives this interest and resonates with people across the globe? What role does Korean popular culture play as a form of soft power and cultural diplomacy in the United States? What are some aspects of Korean culture that are often misunderstood? Join us for a conversation with Amb. Jie-ae Sohn, South Korean Ambassador for Cultural Cooperation, to learn more about the story behind Korea’s cultural wave, moderated by KEI President Ambassador Kathleen Stephens.

Countries with advanced semiconductor industries are caught in the middle of growing U.S.-China competition in technology focused on advanced computing. While some countries with key technology companies in the toolmaking sector have been drawn into the competition previously, South Korea and its national champions, Samsung and SK Hynix, have arguably incurred some of the most significant pressure. These firms have billions of dollars of sunk investment in China-based facilities and the future of these facilities remains in doubt after a series of new U.S. measures unleashed by the U.S. Commerce Department. South Korean companies are also players in other parts of the global semiconductor supply chain, including semiconductor manufacturing tools, and China remains an important market for both components and electronic devices. Each country caught in the U.S.-China technology competition faces difficult tradeoffs in determining how best to support its leading companies while navigating changing and often arbitrary U.S. decisions that have already significantly disrupted global supply chains. Finally, at the same time as U.S. export controls have impacted South Korean companies’ ability to retain business operations and market access in China, major front-end manufacturers, particularly Samsung, are also looking to expand their operations in the United States and benefit from the U.S. CHIPS Act. All of this puts South Korea in one of the more complex positions as the industry faces continued restructuring, buffeted by both export controls and industrial policies. Please join KEI as Mr. Paul Triolo sheds a greater light on the dynamics of these challenges for both Seoul and South Korean technology players.

The United States and the Republic of Korea have been celebrating the 70th anniversary of the alliance and the 120th anniversary of Korean immigration to the United States throughout 2023. Along with our military and economic partnership, people-to-people ties have served as a central pillar of our multifaceted relationship. Both those who have practiced diplomacy and ordinary people through their personal and professional connections have contributed to the close and ever deepening relationship our two countries enjoy today. Please hear from current and former Ambassadors about how public diplomacy has expanded the diplomatic horizons of our alliance and how it will help the two countries and their people achieve a secure and prosperous future.

The recent war in Ukraine, Russia’s overtures towards North Korea, and North Korea’s emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic all signal a sea-change for the DPRK’s place in the international system. KEI Economic Policy Analyst Tom Ramage sat down with SOAS University of London professor and North Korea expert Hazel Smith to discuss the recent Putin-Kim summit, alleged North Korean munitions to Russia, the effect of sanctions on North Korean denuclearization, and the priorities they will all take within Washington and Seoul’s responses to increasing conflicts abroad.

In 2023, KEI has set out on its "Rethinking Korea initiative," which explores the evolution of U.S.-Korea relations, Korea's place in the world, and rapid changes in Korean society itself. The initiative involves both retrospective inquiry as well as prospective analysis about future trends. Today, we will be discussing the growing popularity of K-pop and K-culture within the United States. KEI’s Director of Communications, Sang Kim, and Operations Manager, Mai Anna Pressley, attended KCON LA in August, and shared their experiences and observations while at the convention. KCON is an annual convention held globally, organized by CJ E&M as a celebration of the Korean Wave. In addition to their conversation, snippets of interviews with convention attendees are included throughout the podcast.

In 2023, KEI has set out on its "Rethinking Korea initiative," which explores the evolution of U.S.-Korea relations, Korea's place in the world, and rapid changes in Korean society itself. The initiative involves both retrospective inquiry as well as prospective analysis about future trends. As part of this initiative, KEI looks to build upon its previous programs and publications and deepen understanding of the key issues they explore. Today’s two guests help us do so. Dr. Jerome Kim, is the Director General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), based in South Korea, and an international expert on the development and evaluation of vaccines. Interviewing Dr. Kim is Salome Da Silva Duarte Lepez, a researcher and analyst in health policy with a background in neuroscience and rare neuromuscular diseases. Previously, Salome coauthored a paper published in KEI’s On Korea 2023, titled, “South Korea as a Global Vaccine Hub.” During their conversation, Dr. Kim and Ms. Lepez explore a range of issues, including the history and evolution of IVI; the IVI’s role in working with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) biomanufacturing training hub established in South Korea in 2022; the nature of the training and coursework IVI and the biomanufacturing hub provide and how it aims to improve public health in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs); how these efforts fit into a broader array of public and private institutions, an uncertain geopolitical environment, and South Korea’s own science diplomacy; and how such efforts may evolve in the future, particularly as the world moves beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Event Description: With relations between Korea and Japan improving over the last year the leaders of the United States, Korea, and Japan met in Washington on August 18 to discuss a common approach for addressing regional and global security challenges and enhancing economic prosperity. KEI and the Mansfield Foundation hosted a discussion on the progress made in the summit, the challenges ahead, and the potential opportunities that remain.

In 2023, KEI has set out on its "Rethinking Korea initiative," which explores the evolution of U.S.-Korea relations, Korea's place in the world, and rapid changes in Korean society itself. The initiative involves both retrospective inquiry as well as prospective analysis about future trends. Our guest today is someone with direct experience monitoring international sanctions against North Korea. Maiko Takeuchi has 20 years of experience in national security, specializing in WMD non-proliferation and security export controls. She served the United Nations Security Council as a member of the Panel of Experts (UNSCR 1874 Panel of Experts) for North Korea for five years (2016-2021). While on the Panel, she investigated North Korea’s nuclear and other WMD programs and related procurements, and violations of embargoes, overseas workers, and activities of UN-designated entities. During our conversation, we traversed various topics, including how she (and other experts) come to serve on the panel; the tumultuous period during which she served, when the Korean Peninsula moved from threats of nuclear war to historic engagement and back again to stalemate and recrimination; the effectiveness and unintended consequences of sanctions; the challenges in monitoring and implementation; geopolitics’ effect on the panel’s work; and increasing attention on North Korea’s cyber activities and use of cryptocurrency to evade sanctions.

In 2023, KEI has set out on its "Rethinking Korea initiative," which explores the evolution of U.S.-Korea relations, Korea's place in the world, and rapid changes in Korean society itself. The initiative involves both retrospective inquiry as well as prospective analysis about future trends. Our guest today is someone who studies nationalism and democracy in the Korean Peninsula, with a particular focus on issues of identity change, integration, and democratic support. Aram Hur is the incoming Kim Koo Chair in Korean Studies and Assistant Professor of Political Science at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. Today we’re going to talk about democratic citizenship and nationalism in South Korea, and Aram has some insights many listeners might find surprising. In fact, her findings suggest that democratic ideals are actually buttressed by nationalism, a sense of national pride, and civic duty.

In 2023, KEI has set out on its "Rethinking Korea initiative," which explores the evolution of U.S.-Korea relations, Korea's place in the world, and rapid changes in Korean society itself. The initiative involves both retrospective inquiry as well as prospective analysis about future trends. Our guest today is someone who covers the Korean Peninsula as a writer and journalist, with a deep personal connection to it. E. Tammy Kim is a contributing writer at The New Yorker, the cohost of her own podcast, Time to Say Goodbye, a contributing editor at Lux magazine, and a fellow at Type Media Center. In our conversation, we explore various topics, including her own connection to the Korean Peninsula, common misunderstandings and biases between the United States and the Koreas, her past writing on both the hope and failure of engagement with North Korea, her ongoing investigation of the longstanding U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula, and contradictions surrounding South Korea’s place within a broader U.S. hegemonic structure.