About Stimson
Programs

Korea Program

Promoting greater understanding of relations between the United States and the Korean Peninsula to help address some of the world’s most pressing traditional and nontraditional security challenges.

The Korea Program at the Stimson Center is a policy research and engagement hub dedicated to advancing understanding of South Korea, U.S.–Korea relations and their broader global implications. The program combines in-depth research with high-level dialogues among policymakers, industry leaders, academics, and civil society to inform actionable strategies and policy for both governments and stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Three Pillars for the program are as follows:

  • U.S.-ROK Alliance and Regional Leadership. Examining how the U.S.–ROK alliance can adapt to emerging security challenges amid shifting regional order. It facilitates bilateral and multilateral dialogues, produces policy analyses on extended deterrence and maritime security, and develops public opinion studies on regional cooperation.
  • The Economic Security and Technology Cooperation. Aligning South Korea’s strategic technologies with U.S. Critical and Emerging Technologies (CETs). Through policy research, expert councils, and pilot projects, the program promotes joint innovation and cooperation in areas such as semiconductors, AI, quantum computing, robotics, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing, among others.
  • Korea's Democracy and Society in the 21st Century. Tracking the health of democracy and democratic institution in South Korea with a special focus on election, civic engagement, media integrity, and interparliamentary cooperation. Through surveys, workshops, and research, the program seeks to support democratic resilience and institutional trust.


    • Through these three pillars, the Korea Program establishes the Stimson Center as a leading platform for integrated analysis of South Korea’s geopolitics, economics, and society and aims to stand alongside other major research programs in Washington, DC as the preeminent venue for Korea-focused research, dialogue, and leadership development.

    Program Team

    J. James Kim
    Program Director
    Sean (Hyuk Hyun) Kwon
    Nonresident Fellow

    Projects

    Countering AI Disinformation and Implications for the US-ROK Alliance
    A survey of the current AI landscape, how these technologies are leveraged for misinformation and disinformation campaigns, and ways the U.S. and its allies can foster cooperation to mitigate these risks.
    Economic Security and Technology Cooperation
    Building a U.S.–Korea framework for joint innovation and coordination across critical and emerging technologies driving cooperation in economic security.
    U.S.-ROK Alliance and Regional Leadership
    Advancing a forward-looking U.S.–Korea alliance through research, strategic dialogue, security cooperation, and regional policy innovation in the Indo-Pacific.
    Korea’s Democracy and Society in the 21st Century
    Strengthening democratic resilience in Korea through research, dialogue, civic engagement, media integrity, and interparliamentary cooperation.
    Nuclearization Debates: Lesson for South Korea
    Examining critical issues regarding nuclear dynamics and security challenges facing the Korean Peninsula, drawing from South Asia’s experiences.

    Research

    Filter


    Events

    • Past
    • Event
    New Frontiers for North Korean Surveillance and Repression
    • March 18, 2026
    • Past
    • Event
    Countering AI Disinformation: Implications for the US-ROK Alliance
    • March 13, 2026
    • Past
    • Event
    South Korea: Impeachment Ruling and Foreign Policy Implications
    • April 9, 2025
    • Past
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    Smartphones of North Korea 2024
    • September 24, 2024
    • Past
    • Event
    South Korean Approaches to North Korean Human Rights: Civil Society Initiatives
    • August 21, 2024
    • Past
    • Event
    Takeaways from the Putin-Kim Summit
    • June 25, 2024
    • Past
    • Event
    Assessing North Korea’s Rural Development Initiative
    • June 26, 2024
    • Past
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    Connecting the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific: Northeast Asia’s Growing Cooperation with NATO
    • May 16, 2024
    • Past
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    Digital Surveillance in North Korea
    • April 16, 2024
    • Past
    • Event
    South Korea’s General Elections: Implications for Yoon’s Foreign Policy
    • April 11, 2024
    • Past
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    Developments in North Korea’s Foreign Policy
    • March 27, 2024
    • Past
    • Event
    North Korea’s Energy Challenges and Potential for Future Cooperation
    • June 14, 2023
    • Past
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    Beyond the Washington Declaration: Prospects for the Future of Extended Deterrence
    • May 16, 2023
    • Past
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    Nuclearization Debates: What Can South Korea Learn from South Asia?
    • May 3, 2023
    • Past
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    Understanding Kim Jong Un’s Economic Policymaking Phase II: Results and Implications
    • February 23, 2023
    • Past
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    A Mid-Term Report Card for Biden’s North Korea Policy
    • February 21, 2023
    • Past
    • Event
    A South Korean Nuclear Program? Assessing the Risks
    • January 30, 2023
    • Past
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    North Korea: Is Denuclearization Dead?
    • December 14, 2022
    • Past
    • Event
    Tensions on the Korean Peninsula: Is War Possible?
    • November 29, 2022
    • Past
    • Event
    Recalibrating US Extended Deterrence on the Korean Peninsula
    • September 12, 2022
    • Past
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    Arms Racing in Northeast Asia and Implications for the Korean Peninsula
    • June 9, 2022
    • Past
    • Event
    Hackers and Social Networks: How North Koreans Are Accessing Foreign Information
    • April 27, 2022
    • Past
    • Event
    North Korea’s “Checkerboard” Threat: Obstacles and Opportunities for the US-ROK Alliance
    • March 31, 2022
    • Past
    • Event
    The Post-Cold War Transformation of the US-ROK Alliance: Implications and Future Cooperation
    • March 23, 2022
    • Past
    • Event
    Understanding Kim Jong Un’s Economic Policymaking: Implications and Opportunities
    • January 27, 2022
    • Past
    • Event
    Kim Jong Un at 10 Years: Evaluating the Regime and Future Prospects
    • December 7, 2021
    • Past
    • Event
    North Korea Beyond the Six Parties: Examining ties with Central Asia, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa
    • June 3, 2021
    • Past
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    Biden’s North Korea Policy Review: Perspectives from the Region
    • April 19, 2021
    • Past
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    It’s Not Just Over There: The American Commitment to the Korean Peninsula
    • March 9, 2021
    • Past
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    Blinken’s Asia Trip: What’s Next With North Korea?
    • March 24, 2021
    • Past
    • Event
    North Korea Beyond the Six Parties: Examining ties with Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia
    • March 10, 2021
    • Past
    • Event
    US and ROK Approaches to North Korea: Challenges and Opportunities
    • February 23, 2021
    • Past
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    The U.S. and The Korean Peninsula: Understanding America’s Longest War
    • January 28, 2021
    • Past
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    Assessing Plans Announced at North Korea’s Eighth Party Congress
    • January 19, 2021
    • Past
    • Event
    The Implications of the 2020 Election: Views From Seoul
    • December 17, 2020
    • Past
    • Event
    It’s Not Just Over There: The American Commitment to the Korean Peninsula
    • October 6, 2020
    • Past
    • Event
    Understanding US-Korea Relations Today
    • September 30, 2020
    • Past
    • Event
    Managing Nuclear Risks with North Korea and Proliferation Risks Beyond the Korean Peninsula
    • September 22, 2020
    • Past
    • Event
    It’s Not Just “Over There”: The American Commitment to the Korean Peninsula
    • September 8, 2020
    • Private
    • Event
    US-ROK Alliance Transformation & Wartime Operational Control (OPCON)
    • September 4, 2020
    • Past
    • Event
    It’s Not Just “Over There:” Consequences of War and Instability on the Korean Peninsula
    • August 25, 2020
    • Past
    • Event
    US Indo-Pacific Allies in the Shadow of US-China Strategic Rivalry
    • July 29, 2020
    • Past
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    Missile Defense Futures and the Korean Peninsula
    • June 18, 2020
    • Past
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    The United States-South Korea Alliance Amidst Uncertainty, Discussion Session 2
    • June 15, 2020
    • Past
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    The United States-South Korea Alliance Amidst Uncertainty
    • June 11, 2020
    • Past
    • Event
    The US-South Korea Alliance and Ongoing Cost-Sharing Talks
    • April 29, 2020
    US Pacific Command
    • Past
    • Event
    US Alliances in the Indo-Pacific
    • April 24, 2020
    • Past
    • Event
    Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula: Different Ways, Same Goal
    • January 31, 2020
    • Past
    • Event
    The “New North Korea”: Security Implications of North Korea’s Social Changes
    • December 10, 2019
    • Past
    • Event
    A Long Separation: A Photo Series of Korean Separated Families
    • October 21, 2019
    • Past
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    A Team of Their Own: How an International Sisterhood Made Olympic History
    • October 9, 2019
    • Past
    • Event
    After Hanoi: Next Steps for the US and the DPRK
    • March 6, 2019
    • Past
    • Event
    50 Years of Propaganda – A Glimpse into North Korean Domestic Initiatives
    • December 4, 2018