Eye on Korea

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 fo...

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 t...

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 d...

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, cappi...

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....

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 Be...

South Korea wants nuclear-powered submarines, enrichment capabilities, and a bigger role in the global nuclear energy market. But the terms of its nuclear relationship with the United States are not built to support these goals.   Toby Dalton, Senior Fellow and Co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, breaks down the nuclear policy questions at t...

Trump has demanded allies like South Korea help secure the Strait of Hormuz, but what does the broader conflict with Iran mean for deterrence on the Korean Peninsula? And as assets like THAAD shift to the Middle East, how should Seoul and Washington rethink contingency planning? Jeonghun Min, professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), describes the ripple effects of U.S. Middle Eas...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is heading to Washington with strong domestic support. What does she want, what can she get, and what does it mean for the U.S.-South Korea alliance? Mireya Solís, Director of the Center for Asia Policy Studies and Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies at the Brookings Institution, joins Eye on Korea to break down the upcoming U.S.-Japan summit and its ripple...

Mary E. Lovely, Anthony M. Solomon Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, joins KEI for a deep dive into the U.S.-China trade and investment relationship at a moment of extraordinary geopolitical uncertainty. Lovely breaks down the state of play on tariffs and examines what the Donald Trump administration is aiming to achieve in its economic confrontation with Beijing...

Jonathan Hillman, Senior Fellow for Geoeconomics at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins KEI for a wide-ranging conversation on the frontlines of U.S.-China economic competition. Hillman examines where China is pulling ahead—particularly in quantum communications and data centers — and what that means for the future of AI and technological leadership. He breaks down the opportunities and risks...

Dr. Ellen Kim discusses her new coauthored book, “China's Weaponization of Trade: Resistance Through Collective Resilience,” which tracks hundreds of cases where China has used its economic power to punish or pressure other countries and companies. Ellen Kim is the Director of Academic Affairs at KEI. Previously, she was deputy director and senior fellow with the Korea Chair at the Center for Stra...

As artificial intelligence drives unprecedented electricity demand, the United States and South Korea are exploring a new strategic frontier: nuclear energy cooperation. Dr. Yongsoo Hwang, Distinguished Professor for Special Affairs at the KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School, joins Eye on Korea to explain how South Korea’s proven record of delivering nuclear projects on time and on cost, t...

Bruce Klingner, Senior Fellow at the Mansfield Foundation, unpacks why the U.S.-South Korea alliance feels simultaneously more stable than many predicted and more uncertain than it appears. Describing the relationship as a “Schrödinger’s alliance,” Bruce explores how turbulence, misperceptions, and competing strategic impulses in Washington and Seoul are shaping alliance politics. He examines the...

Troy Stangarone, Non-Resident Fellow at the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology, joins KEI President and CEO Scott Snyder to discuss the Trump administration’s tariff framework and how it's reshaping the U.S.-South Korea economic relationship. The conversation examines the shift away from the KORUS Free Trade Agreement toward sector-specific tariffs and how this change is influen...

In this episode of Eye on Korea, Jeannette Chu describes the evolution of U.S. export controls, from multilateral coordination to today’s more unilateral “small yard, high fence” approach. These shifts fit into a broader national security strategy, she argues, and have important implications for Korea’s role as a leading innovation partner in semiconductors, AI, and advanced manufacturing.   The c...

Tami Overby, Senior Counselor at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group, analyzes the outcomes of the Trump-Lee meeting on the sidelines of APEC, and the long-awaited investment deal and what it signals about the next phase of the U.S.-Korea relationship. She explains how Washington’s green light for South Korean nuclear-powered submarine development fits into alliance strategy and how it may complement U...

Matthew P. Goodman, Distinguished Fellow for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), joins Eye on Korea to discuss this year’s APEC Summit in South Korea and why expectations should be modest.  Goodman outlines the three tiers of APEC and how this year’s policy agenda fits within its broader framework. He also highlights the importance of working-level meetings that quietly...

Wendy Cutler, Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former U.S. trade negotiator, joins KEI President & CEO Scott Snyder to break down the state of U.S.–Korea trade talks — and why a long-awaited deal remains elusive. We examine the sticking points at the heart of negotiations, including Washington’s push for a $350 billion Korean investment fund, Seoul’s concerns over U.S....

Jeff Schott, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, joins KEI President & CEO Scott Snyder to break down the challenges and opportunities in U.S.–Korea trade relations.   We discuss how U.S. tariff policy under the Trump administration has reshaped Korea’s auto exports and the U.S. Korea free trade agreement (KORUS FTA), the fallout from the Hyundai raid in Georgi...

Rachel Minyoung Lee, Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center’s Korea Program and 38 North, unpacks Kim Jong Un’s high-profile visit to Beijing in early September. This was Kim’s first multilateral gathering, aimed at showing the world he is a leader—not just a player—in an emerging Cold War dynamic between China, Russia, and North Korea on one side, and the U.S. and its allies on the other. We discuss...

Zack Cooper, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, unpacks the Trump administration’s national security priorities, which he groups into homeland defense and the Indo-Pacific. He weighs in on why he’s impressed with South Korea’s early moves under the Lee administration, but warns that Seoul may be overly optimistic about Washington’s expectations. Dr. Cooper also discusses Trump’s d...

Dr. Hyo-young Lee, Associate Professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy and an expert in international trade and diplomacy, joins KEI President & CEO Scott Snyder for a detailed discussion of the recently announced U.S.–South Korea trade deal.   Our conversation explores how Korean negotiators navigated the pressure of earlier U.S. trade deals with Japan and the EU, and how Seoul secur...

Michael Beeman, former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan, Korea, and APEC, joins KEI President and CEO Scott Snyder to unpack what’s really driving U.S.–South Korea trade negotiations under President Donald Trump’s second term. Drawing from his time at USTR and insights from his book Walking Out: America’s New Trade Policy in the Asia-Pacific and Beyond , Dr. Beeman explains Trump’s 25...

Dr. John Blaxland, Director of the Australian National University’s North America Liaison Office and an expert in international security and intelligence, joins KEI President & CEO Scott Snyder for a deep dive into the evolving Australia-South Korea relationship. The conversation covers Dr. Blaxland’s forthcoming article in Korea Policy, highlighting how Australia and South Korea are increasin...