The South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsized off the southwestern coast of the peninsula on the morning of April 16, 2014. Sewol’s departure from the port of Incheon the night before had been delayed by nearly two-and-a-half hours, due to a thick, persistent fog. Sewol commenced its journey shortly after the low visibility warning was … Read more
In March 2024, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held their 10th Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) in Seoul, marking the first such gathering in almost six years. A week later, in their trilateral technology dialogue, the United States, South Korea, and India explored possibilities for collaboration in key … Read more
Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai’s latest visit to South Korea at the beginning of April shed light on Ulaanbaatar and Seoul’s growing economic and cultural cooperation. Oyun-Erdene’s visit envisaged several economic initiatives Seoul could participate in, ranging from collaboration between large corporations to increasing tourism and promoting the Korean creative industry to enter Mongolia. Mongolia … Read more
The Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners ,and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Dr. Antonio Fiori – associate professor at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, and co-editor of “The Routledge Handbook of Europe-Korea Relations” (2024) – … Read more
Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has basked in an outpouring of respect and appreciation in Washington this week. He was feted by U.S. President Joe Biden at a state dinner at the White House. The event was attended by a host of celebrities, such as Robert de Niro, as well as top brass from the … Read more
The leadup to the election saw President Yoon Suk-yeol embroiled in a series of damaging incidents. His party paid the price.
The Democratic Party (DP) won a landslide victory again on Wednesday, signaling South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s lame-duck status for his remaining three years in office. Out of 300 seats in the National Assembly, the DP won 175 seats, while the ruling People Power Party (PPP) won 108. Adding other seats won by opposition parties … Read more
South Korea’s liberal opposition parties were expected to win a landslide victory in Wednesday’s parliamentary election, initial exit polls suggested, a result that if confirmed would make conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol a lame duck for his remaining three years in office. The joint exit polls by South Korea’s three major TV stations – KBS, MBC, … Read more
South Korea has successfully launched its second military spy satellite into orbit, days after North Korea reaffirmed its plan to launch multiple reconnaissance satellites this year. The Koreas each launched their first spy satellites last year – North Korea in November and South Korea in December – amid heightened animosities. They said their satellites would … Read more
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met the leader of a strike by thousands of junior doctors on Thursday and said that the government is open to talks about its contentious push to sharply increase medical school admissions. The meeting was the first of its kind since more than 90 percent of the country’s 13,000 trainee … Read more