Eye on Korea

Korea Economic Institute
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The Korea Economic Institute of America is pleased to present Eye on Korea, a program designed to provide expert analysis on the most pressing issues shaping US-Korea relations. [KEI is registered under the FARA as an agent of the KIEP, a public corporation established by the government of the Republic of Korea. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.]

  1. Jul 30

    Can a Middle Power Run Its Own Grand Strategy? | Eye on Korea Ep. 40

    South Korea is running a deliberate grand strategy, pursuing autonomy and freedom of action while keeping the U.S.-South Korea alliance intact and turning the trade power and influence it has built into real leverage, says Dr. Andrew Yeo on this week’s Eye on Korea. In this episode, he lays out what that strategy looks like and whether a country constrained by larger powers can actually pull it off. Drawing on his forthcoming book on South Korean grand strategy, Yeo details the assets Seoul holds to manage its external security environment and uncertainty from the Donald Trump administration. That strategy is being tested against a fast-moving backdrop, as North Korea runs its most active diplomacy in years. Yeo unpacks how leader Kim Jong Un is managing his two great-power patrons at once, whether he is playing China and Russia against each other or charting a new approach, and what the North Korea-Russia relationship has done for the country domestically and abroad. He also weighs the prospects for an inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Kim, the conditions for renewed diplomacy between the United States and North Korea, and the role denuclearization can realistically play in U.S. policy toward the Korean Peninsula. Andrew Yeo is Senior Fellow and SK-Korea Foundation Chair at the Brookings Institution's Center for Asia Policy Studies and Professor of Politics at The Catholic University of America. He is co-editor of Great Power Competition and Overseas Bases: Chinese, Russian, and American Force Posture in the 21st Century. [This material is distributed by KEI on behalf of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.]

  2. Jul 16

    Why Democracy Is Still Winning in Korea | Eye on Korea Ep. 39

    South Korea’s democracy has weathered stress tests few others have—moving from a night of martial law to a presidential impeachment and a snap election—causing the V-Dem’s 2025 report to downgrade the country from “liberal democracy” to “electoral democracy” amid a broader democratic retreat. Derek Mitchell, former U.S. Ambassador to Burma and former President of the National Democratic Institute, argues that South Korea is demonstrating precisely what a strong democracy is capable of through accountability, reforms, and transparency. Mitchell also widens the lens to the global picture, weighing the forces that could threaten a worldwide tide of democratic decline and the resilience of democracies like South Korea and Taiwan as geostrategic competition in Northeast Asia intensifies. The conversation also examines how South Korea is managing U.S.-China competition, from the weaponization of trade to the prospect of a Taiwan contingency, U.S. expectations of South Korea in a regional conflict, and the priorities underlying the Trump administration’s call for alliance modernization. The episode also includes discussion on the warm South Korea-Japan relationship, the more fraught state of South Korea-China ties, defense exports, North Korea, and more. [This material is distributed by KEI on behalf of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.]

  3. Jun 29

    K-Defense Goes Global | Eye on Korea Ep. 38

    South Korea’s defense industry has gone from supplying its own military to arming others, and “K-defense” is now one of Seoul’s fastest-growing exports. Rob Rapson, a career U.S. diplomat who spent decades shaping the U.S.-South Korea relationship, joins Scott Snyder to trace how South Korean arms sales went global and their implications for the country’s relationship with Europe as it competes for, and supplies into, the region’s rearmament. Rapson also walks through South Korea’s decades-deep footprint in the Middle East, from construction contracts to defense deals, and assesses the energy crisis impacting one of the world’s most energy-dependent advanced economies. The conversation also examines the Lee Jae Myung administration, its approach to Washington, and the surprising warmth of the South Korea-Japan relationship, as well as potential speed bumps Rapson sees ahead. The episode also discusses security issues within the alliance, including North Korea, the wartime operational control conversation, the U.S.-South Korea 123 agreement, and South Korea’s bid for civilian nuclear participation. [This material is distributed by KEI on behalf of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.]

  4. Jun 18

    Why China-North Korea Military Cooperation Should Alarm Washington | Eye on Korea Ep. 37

    Xi Jinping just spent two days in Pyongyang, his first trip to North Korea in nearly seven years, and the message was hard to miss. China is reinvesting in a relationship it had let cool, and the military side of that reinvestment is exactly what should worry Washington and Seoul. Youngjun Kim of the Korea National Defense University joins us to unpack these developments. The episode begins with the summit itself and what Xi and Kim actually signaled to one another, then gets into whether warmer ties could eventually produce something as concrete as joint China-North Korea military exercises. Kim walks through North Korea’s long habit of hedging between China and Russia, why North Korea’s deepening partnership with Russia complicates that balancing act, and how the so-called axis of upheaval is starting to chip away at U.S. primacy across the Indo-Pacific. Kim lays out North Korea’s growing uranium stockpile and what it means for the nuclear picture, why intelligence-sharing among U.S. allies has stopped being optional, and where South Korea fits in the region’s security architecture.  He argues that China is too powerful for South Korea not to continue building its own defenses, weighs whether South Korean nuclear-powered submarines are really aimed at China rather than North Korea, and closes on the commercial side of the partnership and the issue of OPCON transition. Youngjun Kim is Dean and Professor at the Korea National Defense University’s School of Strategic Studies, a Non-Resident Fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research, a member of the ROK-US Nuclear Energy Cooperation Advisory Board, and Vice President of the Korea Nuclear Policy Society. [This material is distributed by KEI on behalf of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.]

  5. Jun 9

    South Korea Wants a Bigger Seat at the Table | Ep. 36

    Former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg returns to Eye on Korea, making the case that South Korea has become a legitimate middle power with one of the fastest-growing defense-industrial bases, growing its reach from Africa to the Middle East while recalibrating the U.S.-South Korea alliance at the center of its security posture. Ambassador Goldberg traces how pragmatism has come to define the Lee Jae Myung administration’s outreach to Japan and policies toward the U.S.-South Korea alliance. Along with KEI President and CEO Scott Snyder, Ambassador Goldberg discusses South Korea’s interpretation of the Iran war, its ambiguity regarding a Taiwan contingency, and its read on a Trump trade policy Goldberg calls “extortionist.”    The episode also digs into the harder questions, including whether a seventy-year-old U.S. nuclear guarantee still carries the same weight, what the recent Xi Jinping-Kim Jong Un meeting in Pyongyang signals for a future Trump-Kim summit, and why OPCON transfer keeps slipping, a delay Goldberg argues is driven more by the military than by politics. Philip Goldberg served as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea from 2022 to 2025. Over a decades-long diplomatic career, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, the Philippines, and Bolivia; as Chief of Mission in Pristina, Kosovo; as Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research; and as the coordinator for implementing U.N. sanctions on North Korea. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the American negotiating team at the Dayton Peace Conference, serving as chief of staff for the U.S. delegation. Ambassador Goldberg has received numerous honors, including Presidential Distinguished and Meritorious Service Awards and the State Department's Distinguished Honor Award. Like and subscribe to the Korea Economic Institute of America on YouTube for more U.S.-South Korea news, analysis, politics and more! Social Links: Website: https://keia.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/koreaeconinst [This material is distributed by KEI on behalf of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.]

  6. May 13

    OPCON Transfer Should Have Happened a “Long Time Ago” | Ep. 35

    Wartime operational control, or OPCON, should have been transferred from U.S. to South Korean forces. That is the case Ambassador Joseph Yun makes on Eye on Korea—South Korea must take primary responsibility for conventional warfare on the peninsula, and the alliance may be overdue for rebalancing.   Ambassador Yun served as acting U.S. Ambassador to South Korea from January to October 2025, capping a three-decade career in the Department of State that spanned major chapters of the U.S.-South Korea relationship. He joins Eye on Korea for a wide-ranging conversation on OPCON, alliance modernization, the Lee Jae Myung administration, and the future of South Korea as a middle power.   We also cover: 🔹 How the alliance is managing the back-to-back transitions from Joe Biden to Donald Trump in Washington and Yoon Suk Yeol to Lee Jae Myung in Seoul 🔹 Why the rule of law and due process are a “key point” of the U.S.-South Korea relationship, embedded in shared democratic values 🔹 Why form and process lead to substance—and how that principle runs through all aspects of alliance management 🔹 The economic dimension of the U.S.-South Korea relationship and why the tariff shock landed less hard in Seoul than elsewhere 🔹 The key differences between the Moon Jae-in and Lee Jae Myung administrations, and the interplay between progressivism and pragmatism 🔹 The factions inside South Korean domestic politics and what they signal for foreign policy 🔹 Why North Korea will not denuclearize, and whether a different approach, such as arms control, is now more fit for purpose 🔹 Optimal balancing between regional players, such as China, for South Korea’s long-term position 🔹 Whether the United States is still a benign hegemon or has become a more isolationist, transactional leader—and what each outcome means for the alliance and the Indo-Pacific 🔹 Alliance modernization, including strategic flexibility, nuclear-powered submarines, and relations with Japan 🔹 The future of Korea as a middle power in the twenty-first century   Ambassador Joseph Yun served as acting U.S. Ambassador to South Korea from January to October 2025. During his three-decade-plus career at the Department of State, Joe served in Korea-focused roles on multiple occasions, including as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy during the first Trump administration. He was also U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations, U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, among many other roles. Like and subscribe to the Korea Economic Institute of America on YouTube for more U.S.-South Korea news, analysis, politics and more! Social Links: Website: https://keia.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/koreaeconinst [This material is distributed by KEI on behalf of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.]

  7. May 12

    What to Expect From the Trump-Xi Summit in China | Ep. 34

    President Donald Trump is heading to Beijing for a high-stakes summit with Xi Jinping—in the middle of an active war with Iran, a new National Defense Strategy putting the Indo-Pacific front and center, and with allies in Seoul and across NATO recalibrating around a less predictable Washington. What does Trump want, what can he get, and what does it mean for the U.S.-South Korea alliance? Susan A. Thornton, former Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Senior Fellow at Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center, joins Eye on Korea to break down the summit and the diplomatic terrain around it. We cover: 🔹 What issues are on the table at the Trump-Xi summit, and why the timing is unusual 🔹 Why reestablishing clearer, more consistent U.S.-China communication channels is critical to keep the relationship from going off the rails 🔹 Whether competition with China shaped the U.S. timing and strategy in the strikes on Iran 🔹 The unusual posture of a U.S. president visiting Beijing in the middle of an active war 🔹 Why Trump is walking into this summit with a weaker hand than the rhetoric suggests 🔹 Whether the United States will ask China to help broker diplomacy with Iran 🔹 The new National Defense Strategy and what it signals for U.S. and allied deterrence posture in the Indo-Pacific 🔹 Why reports of friction between Washington and NATO are overblown 🔹 How allies such as South Korea are absorbing unpredictability out of the White House 🔹 The economic connections to China that the United States and its allies still depend on 🔹 Why multilateralism looks unlikely in the near term—and whether tech cooperation alone can drive structural change while tariffs and uncertainty persist 🔹 Critical minerals and the supply chain fight 🔹 Why allies and trading partners have to hit back when the Trump administration hits them—and why that posture has worked in the economic and trade domains Susan A. Thornton is a retired senior U.S. diplomat with almost 30 years of experience at the U.S. State Department in Eurasia and East Asia. She currently serves as a senior fellow and research scholar at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale University Law School, director of the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Until July 2018, Thornton was acting assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State, where she led East Asia policymaking amid crises with North Korea, escalating trade tensions with China, and a fast-changing international environment. In previous State Department roles, she worked on U.S. policy toward China, Korea, and the former Soviet Union, and served in leadership positions at U.S. embassies in Central Asia, Russia, the Caucasus, and China. She received her master's in international relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and her bachelor's in economics and Russian from Bowdoin College. She serves on several non-profit boards and speaks Mandarin and Russian. Like and subscribe to the Korea Economic Institute of America on YouTube for more U.S.-South Korea news, analysis, politics and more! Social Links: Website: https://keia.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/koreaeconinst [This material is distributed by KEI on behalf of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.]

  8. May 7

    Where Would Iran be in This War Without North Korea? | Ep. 33

    North Korea spent decades building the missile, conventional, and underground infrastructure now on display in Iran's arsenal, with dividends flowing in both directions, KEI’s latest guest on Eye on Korea argues. Bruce Bechtol joins KEI President & CEO Scott Snyder to map what he sees as the North Korea-Iran axis and its implications for the U.S.-South Korea alliance. This episode digs into Bechtol's account of North Korean support for Iran's missile program—including liquid-fuel systems, underground facilities, and conventional weapons—and what he believes the ongoing war reveals about North Korea’s arsenal. Bechtol explains why he believes the United States is neglecting the North Korea-Iran axis and why he views Pyongyang's relationship with Hezbollah as more sophisticated than its ties to Hamas. The conversation widens to North Korea's broader footprint: Bechtol’s assessment of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria for North Korea’s operations in the Middle East, his estimate of how much North Korea is making off Russia's war in Ukraine in cash, oil, and technology, and what costs he believes Kim Jong Un would bear if there were regime change in Tehran. The episode closes with Bechtol's biggest takeaways from North Korea's most recent ICBM and weapons tests. Like and subscribe to the Korea Economic Institute of America on YouTube for more U.S.-South Korea news, analysis, politics and more! Social Links: Website: https://keia.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/koreaeconinst [This material is distributed by KEI on behalf of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.]

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About

The Korea Economic Institute of America is pleased to present Eye on Korea, a program designed to provide expert analysis on the most pressing issues shaping US-Korea relations. [KEI is registered under the FARA as an agent of the KIEP, a public corporation established by the government of the Republic of Korea. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.]

Information

  • Creator
    Korea Economic Institute
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Eye on Korea

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