South Korea’s president has been rocked by scandal. Accusations of influence-peddling tied to her relationship with a long-time friend and confidante, Choi Soon-sil, caused outrage among South Koreans. Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets in Seoul and elsewhere...

This week a political scandal involving Choi Soon-sil, a friend and personal adviser to President Park Geun-hye, has engulfed South Korean domestic politics. The concerns center around Choi, a private citizen, having been given access by Park to speeches, official documents,...

The upcoming visit marks President Park’s second visit to Washington since coming to office in 2013, with her planned visit earlier this June delayed by the MERS outbreak at home. This is a good...

Opinion surveys demonstrate that a majority of Americans consider Asia the most important region to U.S. interests, and a majority of Asia experts support the Obama administration’s goal of a “pivot” or “rebalance” to the Asia-Pacific region.

On October 4, a delegation of eleven top North Korean officials, including the supposed no. 2 and no. 3 ranking leaders in the party and military, paid an unannounced visit to Incheon, South Korea to attend the closing ceremonies of the 17th Asian Games. Their visit was only...

Xi Jinping’s reciprocal visit to South Korea following President Park Guen-hye’s State Visit to China in June 2013 amounts to the fifth meeting between the two leaders since their respective inaugurations in 2013. A delegation accompanied President Xi to Seoul,...

“An eye-opening view of the closed, repressive dictatorship of North Korea.... Cha aims to get at some of the pressing questions since Kim Jong-il’s death and the succession of the utterly unknown younger son, Kim Jong-un… A useful, pertinent work for...

North Korea’s state television Korean Central News Agency made an official announcement that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died at 8:30am on December 17. The announcement made two days after his death reported that he had died of a massive heart attack caused by...

On October 12, the U.S. Congress approved free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. The House passed the Korea trade deal (KORUS) in a 278 to 151 vote. In the Senate, KORUS passed with 83 in favor and only 15...

On July 6, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected the city of Pyeongchang in South Korea as the host city for the 2018 Olympics. The IOC decision, made in Durbin, South Africa, awarded South Korea the Winter Games over competitive bids from Munich, Germany,...