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Pillars of Our Work

Korea in Global Affairs examines four vital pillars that shape Korea's global role and its profound impact on the world: Economic Security, Korean Peninsula and Historical International Relations, Korea-China Relations, and Korea-Japan Relations.

Through each pillar, our scholars will unravel the intricate tapestry of Korea's global contributions and their implications for our world through publications, media commentary, and public events.

Economic Security

More than ever, the economic, security, and technological dimensions of US-Korea relations are tightly linked today, with significant implications for the future of the international order. It is no longer possible to discuss the future of the alliance between Seoul and Washington without addressing global issues at the intersection of international political economy and national security. Our activities seek to offer thought leadership on economic security issues, such as supply chain resilience, clean energy, critical minerals, and emerging technologies such as biotechnology and artificial intelligence.

  1. Ji-Young Lee, Eugeniu Han, and Keren Zhu, “Decoupling from China: How U.S. Asian Allies Responded to the Huawei Ban,” Australian Journal of International Affairs 76, no. 5 (October 2022): 486-506.
    • Shortlisted for the 2023 Boyer Prize, awarded annually to the best article published in the Australian Journal of International Affairs
  2. Ji-Young Lee, “South Korea’s Strategic Nondecision and Sino-U.S. Competition,” in Ashley Tellis, Alison Szalwinski, and Michael Wills, eds. Strategic Asia 2020: US-China Competition for Regional and Global Influence (Seattle: National Bureau of Asian Research, 2020), 74-101.

  3. Gwanhoo Lee and Jaeho Kim, “Delivering a Rapid Digital Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned from South Korea’s Contact-Tracing System,” Communications of the ACM 65, no. 1 (2022): 68-75

  4. Gwanhoo Lee, “What Roles Should the Government Play in Fostering the Advancement of the Internet of Things?,” Telecommunications Policy 43, no. 5 (2019): 434-444.

  5. Eleni Ekmektsioglou, “Hypersonic Weapons and Escalation in East Asia,” Strategic Studies Quarterly 9, no. 2 (Summer 2015): 43-68.

  6. Nina Serafino and Eleni G. Ekmektsioglou, “Congress and National Security,” in Derek S. Reveron, Nikolas K. Gvosdev, and John A. Cloud, eds. The Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security (online edn, Oxford Academic, 2018).

Introducing a new dialogue series that focuses on a global Korea, the US-Korea economic security partnership, and their impact on the shifting global order. As part of this series, our AU Korea Economic Security Forum is a convening space in which SIS’s academic expertise engages with government and think tank policy experts in DC. Between December 2023 and September 2024, participants meet five times to discuss the US’s industrial policy, “ally-shoring,” and the future of global supply chains.

Korean Peninsula and Historical International Relations

This project illuminates Korea’s international relations in a broad global historical perspective. The aim is to develop a strong intellectual foundation for thinking about historical international orders that Korea has been part of shaping. It not only helps understand Korea on its own terms but also brings to life histories that have implications for issues of contemporary significance.

  1. Ji-Young Lee, China’s Hegemony: Four Hundred Years of East Asian Domination (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016). 

  2. Ji-Young Lee, “Hegemonic Authority and Domestic Legitimation: Japan and Korea under Chinese Hegemonic Order in Early Modern East Asia,” Security Studies 25, no. 2 (April-June 2016): 320-52.

  3. Ji-Young Lee, “Diplomatic Ritual as a Power Resource: The Politics of Asymmetry in Early Modern Chinese-Korean Relations,” Journal of East Asian Studies 13, no. 2 (May-Aug. 2013): 309-36. 

  4. Ji-Young Lee, “Historicizing China’s Rise and International Relations of East Asia,” EAI Fellows Program Working Paper Series, no. 47 (December 2014).

  1. The Conversation, “5 things to know about North and South Korea” (February 2018)

  2. The Conversation, “Is a unified Korea possible?” (January 2018)

The Korean Peninsula and Historical International Relations Speaker Series facilitates interdisciplinary dialogue on Korea in its broad web of interconnections and relations with other global actors. The Series hosts events that elucidate Korea/Asia's key historical moments of war, peace, and international order that shaped the contours of world politics.

Associated Scholars

Korea-China Relations

How are Beijing’s growing power and influence affecting relations between South Korea and China? South Korea’s evolving relations with China will have implications for the US alliance network in Asia, and vice versa. We'll look at topics including China’s attitude toward the US-South Korea alliance, China’s position toward Korean unification, and China's approach toward North Korean nuclear and missile threats.  

  1. Ji-Young Lee, The Geopolitics of South Korea–China Relations: Implications for U.S. Policy in the Indo-Pacific (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2020).

  2. Eleni Ekmektsioglou and Ji-Young Lee, “North Korea, Missile Defense and the U.S.-China Security Dilemma,” The Pacific Review 35, no. 4 (July 2022): 587- 616.

  3. Ji-Young Lee, The Great Power Next Door: The Past and Present of Chinese Military Intervention in the Korean Peninsula (under contract with Columbia University Press). This is a work-in-progress.

  1. Ji-Young Lee, “The U.S.-ROK Alliance and China: Beyond the Sinking of the Cheonan,” Asia-Pacific Bulletin, no. 62 (May 28, 2010).
  2. CNN Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, “Experts See Body Language Clues in Kim Jong Un’s China Trip” (March 29, 2018)
  3. Washington Post, “Kim Jong Un wants you to know that he’s a totally reasonable global leader,” (April 26, 2018) 
  4. South China Morning Post, “China-South Korea Ties Face a Testing Time after Seoul Accepts Donald Trump’s G7 Invitation” (June 5, 2020) 
  5. WAMU 88.5 FM1A, “China: How a Superpower Sets Its Agenda,” (October 12, 2017)
  6. Chicago Public Radio WEBZ 91.5 FM Worldview, “What THAAD Means for US and South Korea Relations,” (June 15, 2017)
  7. Yonhap News “한국 내 ‘사드논란’ 너무 커져 [Growing Controversy over THAAD in Korea]” (March 17, 2015)
Associated Scholars

Korea-Japan Relations

In the minds of many, Seoul and Tokyo should make ideal partners for each other’s security and foreign policy, but their bilateral relations have often been stalled over a violent and tragic history during East Asia’s tempestuous transformation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

  1. Ji-Young Lee and Jaehyun Lee, “Everyday Politics of “Dokdo” and South Korean National Identity: An Analysis of Education, Media, and Civil Society,” The Korean Journal of International and Comparative Law 7, no. 1 (June 2019): 67-87. 
  2. Ji-Young Lee, “Historical Memory and Reconciliation: A South Korean Perspective,” in Tatsushi Arai, Shihoko Goto, and Zheng Wang, eds. Contested Memories and Reconciliation Challenges (Washington, DC: The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2015), 37-47.
  3. Ji-Young Lee and Andy Lim, “Camp David: Institutionalizing Cooperation Trilaterally,” Comparative Connections 25, no. 2 (September 2023): 151-160.
  4. Ji-Young Lee, “History, Trade, and Distrust,” Comparative Connections 22, no. 2 (September 2020): 121-128.
  5. Ji-Young Lee and Mintaro Oba, “Japan-Korea Relations: Unfortunate Circumstances and Escalating Tensionstions: Unfortunate Circumstances and Escalating Tensions,” Comparative Connections 20, no. 3 (January 2019): 97-106.
  1. Ji-Young Lee, “Historically Speaking: Japan-ROK Relations and U.S. Asia Strategy,” Center for Strategic and International Studies Japan Chair Platform (December 16, 2013).
  2. Le Monde, “La débâcle américaine en Afghanistan relance le débat sur la sécurité en Corée du Sud et au Japon” (September 2021)
  3. National Journal, Global Security Wire, “Japan-South Korea Discord Seen Harming Efforts to Defend against North Korea”(Dec. 2, 2013)
  4. The Washington Times, “Disputes in Asia Pose Challenges to Obama”  (Feb. 25, 2013)
Associated Scholars