South Korea
THAAD and the Politicization of Missile Defense in South Korea
THAAD is a hot issue in South Korea today. There is conflict over the safety of the system, as well as popular anger at the government’s failure to consult the public at either the local or national level prior to announcing THAAD deployment. This has reinvigorated concerns over the relationship between democracy and the core tenets of the US-ROK alliance. Darcie Draudt investigates.
Where the Korean Wind Blows: Chinese Koreans and Transnational Migration
Chinese Korean youth are not drawn to the Korean peninsula, but the economic opportunities are attractive enough that many will depart their home province for work abroad, sometimes leaving behind children. Shaquille James translates a story published in the Hankyoreh about one such child left behind.
It’s Not About the Moon: The Military and Economic Logics to South Korean Space Exploration
The University of Washington’s Clint Work and Kim Seon-hee pen a critical overview of recent developments in South Korea’s space program, highlighting the military and economic logics behind the country’s interest in tackling humanity’s last frontier.
Identity, Security, and the Nation: Understanding the South Korean Response to North Korean Defectors
In this review essay, Dr. Sarah Son summarizes her contribution to an Asian Ethnicity special issue (Spring 2016) on North Koreans in South Korea. Her work explores the simultaneous portrayal of this group as both “us” and “them” in public policy discourse.
That Which Divides Us: Filibusters, Security Bills, and the NIS
This week, the Minjoo Party used a parliamentary veto — the filibuster — to stall voting on a controversial anti-terrorism bill. Steven Denney examines the process by which the bill was nearly brought to a vote, and looks at polling data on what people thought of the opposition tactic.





