Korean Kontext

After more than a decade as the number three sender of foreign students to the United States, last year South Korea dropped to number four, after several years of declining enrollments. Why, after years of sending tens of thousands of students of all ages to study in the United States, are Koreans less keen on coming to the U.S.?   To answer this question, Korean Kontext host Jenna Gibson sat down with education expert Vincent Flores, EducationUSA's Regional Educational Advising Coordinator (REAC) for Northeast Asia and the Pacific, who is based in Seoul. Flores shares some of his thoughts on why the numbers are dropping, and also gives some insights into what EducationUSA and American colleges and universities are doing to try to reverse this trend.

As North Korea's largest trading partner and political ally, China is a crucial factor in any potential solution to curb North Korea's weapons programs. President Trump expressed hope earlier this year that China would help in the U.S.'s effort to restrain North Korea, which he would later tweet that it had "not worked out." How important is China to North Korea, and what does this mean for the national security of the U.S. and its Pacific allies? What measures can be taken to encourage China's cooperation in dealing with North Korea's nuclear program?   On this week’s episode, we spoke with Gordon Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China and Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World, about China and North Korea’s relationship and what it means for the future of U.S. and South Korean national security.  

Founded in 2014, Korean startup SAY (Seniors and Youth) is a Korean tutoring company with a social mission behind their work - helping Korean retirees find meaningful work. To do this, they have set up a company that connects young foreigners who are eager to learn the Korean language with older Koreans who are eager to share their time and experience.   In this episode, Korean Kontext host Jenna Gibson sits down with two of SAY's founders, Yongmin Cho and Quan Nguyen, to discuss the origins behind the company, their social mission, and how Korean learners can benefit from their lessons.  

In December 1950, while fighting the advancing Chinese army and bitter Korean winter, Colonel Edward Forney and other American and Korean officers managed to evacuate all troops as well as 100,000 North Korean refugees out of the port city of Hungnam.    Now, 67 years later, Colonel Forney's grandson, Ned Forney, was invited to Washington, DC to take part in a ceremony at the National Marine Corps Museum's new memorial for those who faught in the Chosin Reservoir battle that made the Hungnam Evacuation possible. The ceremony was part of the recent visit by new President Moon Jae-In, whose parents were among the refugess saved by Colonel Forney during the evacuation.   In this episode, Ned discusses the history of the evacuation, his grandfather's role, and President Moon's personal connection to this story.

On June 26, a day after the 67th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, KEI hosted an event on Capitol Hill to honor three current and former members of Congress who are veterans of the conflict in Korea. One of them was former Congressman Charlie Rangel of New York, who fought in several major battles in Korea, earning a Purple Heart, the Bronze Star with Valor, and three battle stars.   While in Washington for the reception, Rangel sat down with KEI President Donald Manzullo, who served with Rangel in the House of Representatives for many years. In this episode, the two discuss Rangel's time fighting in Korea, his thoughts about how far South Korea has come since he first arrived there in 1950, and his service in Congress.

With this week's summit between American President Donald Trump and Korean President Moon Jae-In, it's worth looking back at one of the major positive outcomes from the previous U.S.-ROK summit - a joint statement on "New Frontiers of Cooperation," highlighting areas of science and technology for future U.S.-Korea cooperation. From cybersecurity to clean energy, then-Presidents Obama and Park agreed to push forward together on a variety of science and tech projects.   Now, a year on and two new presidents later, how have the two countries been doing on these projects? And what will science and technology cooperation look like under these new administrations? Sean Connell, Director of Business Recruitment at the Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County in Washington State, shares his thoughts on this week's episode of Korean Kontext.

North Korea is no stranger to news headlines in America. The provocative actions of the secretive nation have made them a prime target for constant media coverage stateside. On the other hand, South Korea often gets overshadowed by the North in American news despite being an important economic and security partner.  In this special episode, we talk with Korean Kontext host Jenna Gibson about how North and South Korea are covered in U.S. media outlets and the implications for public awareness of Korean issues in America. Jenna recently traveled to South Korea to present at the World Congress for Korean Politics to present her research, and we discuss the findings from her media content analysis.  Image from Korea Economic Institute of America.

In February 2018, the South Korean city of PyeongChang will play host to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. With less than a year to go, Korea has been hard at work preparing for the big event, making sure fans from around the world feel welcome in PyeongChang.   Recently, host Jenna Gibson sat down with two officials involved in the planning for the Olympics. In this episode, Ok Hee Kang, Executive Vice President of the International Tourism Promotion Division at the Korea Tourism Organization, and Sunny Kim, Head of the Key Client Team for the Organising Committee for Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, both share their perspectives on how the preparation are going so far and how American fans can get involved.

In 2016, the number of American tourists visiting South Korea grew 12 percent, continuing a trend of slow but steady growth over the last few years. What is making more Americans curious about travelling to Korea? And what kinds of activities are they doing once they get there?    In this episode, Korean Kontext host Jenna Gibson sits down with Sung Kim of the Korea Tourism Organization's New York office to discuss recent trends in tourism to Korea, and how they are trying to encourage more Americans to visit the Land of the Morning Calm.   Photo by Jenna Gibson, KEI.

In this special episode of Korean Kontext, KEI's Juni Kim sat down with three North Korean defectors who have settled in South Korea. Each of them has a different story of life in the DPRK, escape, and eventual resettlement in the South.   In this episode, they discuss their stories, including their experiences obtaining outside information while living in North Korea and what it's like to be sent back and imprisoned for trying to escape the country. They also discuss a bit about what it's like adjusting to life in South Korea.   These three defectors were in Washington, DC as part of a program sponsored by Woorihana and No Chain. They spoke at KEI on May 2, and the video of the event can be found on YouTube by clicking here.

In the past decade, South Korea-Japan relations have seen several periods of hightened tension. At the same time, the two countries, along with their ally the United States, have faced an increasingly threatening posture from North Korea, leading to renewed calls for deeper trilateral cooperation.   This week's guest, CSIS Pacific Forum Executive Director Brad Glosserman, is an expert on trilateral relations between these three countries, which he explored in his book "The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States."   With new administrations in Seoul and Washington, along with continued provocations from Pyongyang, will we see a breakthrough in triateral cooperation between these three partners? And what role does national identity play in maintaining (and possibly moving past) the current stalemate?

On May 10, former human rights lawyer Moon Jae-In officially became the next president of South Korea, filling an office that had been empty since former President Park Geun-Hye's impeachment earlier this year. Moon, who is from the progressive Minjoo Party, has indicated he may make some major changes in South Korea's foreign policy, particularly when it comes to engagement with Pyongyang.   Here to discuss the new administration and their approach to foreign policy is Dr. Choi Kang. Dr. Choi is Vice President for Research at The Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. He sat down with host Jenna Gibson to talk about his expectations for President Moon's policy toward North Korea, how he will navigate the relationship with President Donald Trump, and how domestic constraints may affect his administration.

The upcoming presidential election in Korea on May 9th will place many key issues under the microscope. One meriting serious consideration that has featured less prominently in the political discourse is continuity in foreign policy. Korean policy-making processes empower each president to make their own mark on Korea’s foreign outreach, and simultaneously make it difficult to maintain initiatives from the previous administration. Constitutional reform is one of several changes that could help lessen the impact of leadership transitions on international priorities.   In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Jeffrey Robertson, an assistant professor at Yonsei University and a Visiting Fellow at Australia National University, to discuss the importance of maintaining continuity through multiple presidential administrations. 

After the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex last year, economic ties between North and South Korea have all but ceased. And as sanctions measures continue to tighten, the international community has chosen to keep exerting greater and greater pressure on the regime in Pyongyang.   Amid tensions on the peninsula, this week's guest sees an opportunity for more "smart" sanctions, those targeted directly at the inner circles of the regime that are less likely to harm the average North Korean. In this episode, Kim Joong-ho, a Researcher at the Export-Import Bank of Korea, shares his thoughts on sanctions from the South Korean perspective, and looks ahead to the possible policies of the new administration that will soon be in place in Seoul.  

In this episode of Korean Kontext, guest host Kyle Ferrier, KEI's director of academic affairs and research, sits down with Korea Society President Tom Byrne. Before joining the Korea Society earlier this year, Tom worked for Moody's Investor Services, where he was senior vice president.   Kyle and Tom discuss the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis as well as the 2008 Global Financial Crisis from the Korean economy's perspective. They also talk about sources of risk in the Korean economy today, the potential impact of the Fed raising interest rates, and much more.