Korea Economic Institute

10/08/2026

In less than an hour, KEI releases its 2026 survey of how Americans see the U.S.-South Korea relationship. Conducted with YouGov, the survey tracks where Americans stand on the alliance, trade and tariffs, and North Korea after a year of change in U.S. foreign policy.

Karl Friedhoff and Dina Smeltz of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs walk through the results with KEI's Nils Wollesen Osterberg at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Watch live:

Less than a month before a pivotal midterm election day, the Korea ...

10/05/2026

This Thursday, KEI releases its 2026 survey of how Americans see the U.S.-South Korea relationship. Conducted with YouGov, the survey measures where Americans stand on the alliance, on trade and tariffs, and on North Korea after a year of change in U.S. foreign policy.

Karl Friedhoff, Dina Smeltz, and Nils Wollesen Osterberg walk through which views held steady, which shifted, and where Americans divide along party lines.

RSVP Now ➡️https://keia.org/event/what-americans-think-of-the-u-s-south-korea-alliance-before-the-midterms/

10/02/2026

The U.S.-South Korea technology relationship is roughly 85 percent collaboration and 15 percent competition, says Timothy Hwang, co-founder and CEO of Nitra and founder of FiscalNote.

In the latest episode of Eye on Korea, Hwang argues that the two countries' cultures and economies have grown so intertwined that no Korean administration has much room to tilt away from Washington. He walks through what binds them, from chips, batteries, and critical minerals to electric vehicles, AI, and GLP-1 drug partnerships with Korean companies.

He also explains what gives Korean startups their edge, why Korea has produced so many unicorns, why the U.S. consumer market is where Korean founders set their sights, and why he believes Washington's job in innovation is to set the right incentives.

Watch now:

The U.S.-South Korea technology relationship is roughly 85 percent ...

09/30/2026

📅 UPCOMING EVENT: Less than a month before a pivotal midterm election day, KEI will release our annual survey of how Americans see the U.S.-South Korea relationship. Learn where the country stands on the alliance, on foreign trade and investment, and President Donald Trump’s handling of Korea-related issues near the halfway mark of his second term.

RSVP Now ➜ https://keia.org/event/what-americans-think-of-the-u-s-south-korea-alliance-before-the-midterms/

09/29/2026

The United States and South Korea agreed to transfer wartime operational control (OPCON) once a set of conditions had been met, rather than on a fixed date. But today, a time target year is seemingly back on the table. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung aims to complete the transfer before his term ends in 2030, and the two countries' defense chiefs may recommend a year to both presidents after this fall's Security Consultative Meeting.

On this episode of Eye on Korea, In Hyo Seol of Korea National Defense University explains why the transfer has taken two decades and how the combined command structure works from the inside. He also covers the distinct benefits of the conditions-based and timeline approaches, how North Korea may read the shift, and why he argues the transfer is more necessary now than ever, with the first island chain and a Taiwan contingency in view.

Watch and subscribe now:

The United States and South Korea agreed long ago to transfer warti...

09/28/2026

KEI is hiring two paid interns for fall 2026, one in research and one in communications, both in person in Washington, DC. Apply at the link below!

Apply now for Research Intern and Communications Intern positions at the Korea Economic Institute of America.

09/23/2026

Inside Hyundai's EV plant near Savannah, production starts with steel going into a stamping press. Most of that steel is made by Hyundai Steel in Korea. In 2029, a domestic source comes online in Louisiana. Hyundai-Posco Louisiana Steel held an opening ceremony on September 4 in Donaldsonville, an hour west of New Orleans. The USD 5.8 billion mill is expected to produce 2.7 million metric tons a year.

Louisiana is seeing the effects well ahead of production. Over 5,000 jobs are expected, and roughly 70 percent of contracts awarded so far have gone to Louisiana companies.

KEI's Jessie Je toured the Georgia plant a week after the groundbreaking. Read her analysis of what Louisiana steel means for American manufacturing:

Korean investment is building manufacturing capacity that is taking root in the American economy.

09/21/2026

In a new analysis, KEI Director of Communications Arius Derr makes the case for Kansas City as a destination for Korean investment, following a July visit by a delegation from KEI, the U.S. Department of State, and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea as part of KEI's Future of Korea program.

The piece covers the data center load driving new generation across Evergy's service territory, TerraPower's Natrium siting work in Kansas and its EPC agreement with Hyundai Engineering and Construction, the University of Missouri's research reactor consortium with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, three of the country's twenty largest design firms headquartered in a single metro, and an animal health cluster with no equivalent in the world.

It also takes up the constraints: the absence of a Korean corporate footprint, and two state governments competing for firms inside one labor market.

Read it here:

The Kansas City metro has the contracted power, the nuclear partners, and the engineering depth foreign investors look for.

09/09/2026

Before the end of this year, all 51 million residents of South Korea will have free, unmetered access to a domestically built AI chatbot and a public service agent. No other government has attempted anything at that scale.

In new analysis for KEI, Senior Visiting Fellow Henry Haggard examines President Lee Jae Myung's "AI for All" initiative and the three pillars behind it: Korea's dominance in memory chips, its ambition to adopt AI faster and more broadly than any other country, and its commitment to spreading the benefits. He also looks at the AI Basic Act, which took full effect in January 2026 and made Korea the first country in the world with a comprehensive AI law fully in force, while the EU has deferred its high-risk obligations to December 2027 and the United States has no horizontal AI law at all.

Haggard argues the harder work is evaluation capacity, and that closer coordination between Korea's AI Safety Institute and U.S. safety institutes would strengthen the position of both countries.

In December 2026, 51 million people will get a free chatbot with no usage limits, running on Korean models. No other country has attempted anything close

09/01/2026

Japan-South Korea relations have proven more stable than many expected. While North Korea remains a major security concern, shifts in U.S. policy could create new challenges for Seoul-Tokyo ties.