Eye on Korea

OPCON Transfer Should Have Happened a “Long Time Ago” | Ep. 35

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, capping a three-decade career in the Department of State that spanned major chapters of the U.S.-South Korea relationship. He joins Eye on Korea for a wide-ranging conversation on OPCON, alliance modernization, the Lee Jae Myung administration, and the future of South Korea as a middle power.   We also cover: 🔹 How the alliance is managing the back-to-back transitions from Joe Biden to Donald Trump in Washington and Yoon Suk Yeol to Lee Jae Myung in Seoul 🔹 Why the rule of law and due process are a “key point” of the U.S.-South Korea relationship, embedded in shared democratic values 🔹 Why form and process lead to substance—and how that principle runs through all aspects of alliance management 🔹 The economic dimension of the U.S.-South Korea relationship and why the tariff shock landed less hard in Seoul than elsewhere 🔹 The key differences between the Moon Jae-in and Lee Jae Myung administrations, and the interplay between progressivism and pragmatism 🔹 The factions inside South Korean domestic politics and what they signal for foreign policy 🔹 Why North Korea will not denuclearize, and whether a different approach, such as arms control, is now more fit for purpose 🔹 Optimal balancing between regional players, such as China, for South Korea’s long-term position 🔹 Whether the United States is still a benign hegemon or has become a more isolationist, transactional leader—and what each outcome means for the alliance and the Indo-Pacific 🔹 Alliance modernization, including strategic flexibility, nuclear-powered submarines, and relations with Japan 🔹 The future of Korea as a middle power in the twenty-first century   Ambassador Joseph Yun served as acting U.S. Ambassador to South Korea from January to October 2025. During his three-decade-plus career at the Department of State, Joe served in Korea-focused roles on multiple occasions, including as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy during the first Trump administration. He was also U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations, U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, among many other roles. Like and subscribe to the Korea Economic Institute of America on YouTube for more U.S.-South Korea news, analysis, politics and more! Social Links: Website: https://keia.org/ [https://keia.org/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/ [https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/ [https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/] Twitter/X: https://x.com/koreaeconinst [https://x.com/koreaeconinst] [This material is distributed by KEI on behalf of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.]

What to Expect From the Trump-Xi Summit in China | Ep. 34

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. Thornton, former Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Senior Fellow at Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center, joins Eye on Korea to break down the summit and the diplomatic terrain around it. We cover: 🔹 What issues are on the table at the Trump-Xi summit, and why the timing is unusual 🔹 Why reestablishing clearer, more consistent U.S.-China communication channels is critical to keep the relationship from going off the rails 🔹 Whether competition with China shaped the U.S. timing and strategy in the strikes on Iran 🔹 The unusual posture of a U.S. president visiting Beijing in the middle of an active war 🔹 Why Trump is walking into this summit with a weaker hand than the rhetoric suggests 🔹 Whether the United States will ask China to help broker diplomacy with Iran 🔹 The new National Defense Strategy and what it signals for U.S. and allied deterrence posture in the Indo-Pacific 🔹 Why reports of friction between Washington and NATO are overblown 🔹 How allies such as South Korea are absorbing unpredictability out of the White House 🔹 The economic connections to China that the United States and its allies still depend on 🔹 Why multilateralism looks unlikely in the near term—and whether tech cooperation alone can drive structural change while tariffs and uncertainty persist 🔹 Critical minerals and the supply chain fight 🔹 Why allies and trading partners have to hit back when the Trump administration hits them—and why that posture has worked in the economic and trade domains Susan A. Thornton is a retired senior U.S. diplomat with almost 30 years of experience at the U.S. State Department in Eurasia and East Asia. She currently serves as a senior fellow and research scholar at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale University Law School, director of the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Until July 2018, Thornton was acting assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State, where she led East Asia policymaking amid crises with North Korea, escalating trade tensions with China, and a fast-changing international environment. In previous State Department roles, she worked on U.S. policy toward China, Korea, and the former Soviet Union, and served in leadership positions at U.S. embassies in Central Asia, Russia, the Caucasus, and China. She received her master's in international relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and her bachelor's in economics and Russian from Bowdoin College. She serves on several non-profit boards and speaks Mandarin and Russian. Like and subscribe to the Korea Economic Institute of America on YouTube for more U.S.-South Korea news, analysis, politics and more! Social Links: Website: https://keia.org/ [https://keia.org/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/ [https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/ [https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/] Twitter/X: https://x.com/koreaeconinst [https://x.com/koreaeconinst] [This material is distributed by KEI on behalf of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.]

Where Would Iran be in This War Without North Korea? | Ep. 33

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 Bechtol's account of North Korean support for Iran's missile program—including liquid-fuel systems, underground facilities, and conventional weapons—and what he believes the ongoing war reveals about North Korea’s arsenal. Bechtol explains why he believes the United States is neglecting the North Korea-Iran axis and why he views Pyongyang's relationship with Hezbollah as more sophisticated than its ties to Hamas. The conversation widens to North Korea's broader footprint: Bechtol’s assessment of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria for North Korea’s operations in the Middle East, his estimate of how much North Korea is making off Russia's war in Ukraine in cash, oil, and technology, and what costs he believes Kim Jong Un would bear if there were regime change in Tehran. The episode closes with Bechtol's biggest takeaways from North Korea's most recent ICBM and weapons tests. Like and subscribe to the Korea Economic Institute of America on YouTube for more U.S.-South Korea news, analysis, politics and more! Social Links: Website: https://keia.org/ [https://keia.org/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/ [https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/ [https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/] Twitter/X: https://x.com/koreaeconinst [https://x.com/koreaeconinst] [This material is distributed by KEI on behalf of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.]

Rewriting the Nuclear Rules Between Washington and Seoul | Ep. 31

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 the center of the U.S.-Korea relationship with KEI President & CEO Scott Snyder.    They explore why Seoul sees a revised agreement as key to advancing its civilian nuclear program, and whether reviving the long-dormant bilateral commission between the two countries can help close the gap on nuclear capabilities. On enrichment, Dalton walks through the question of whether it must happen on Korean soil, what ownership models might be on the table, and why the enrichment market could look completely different in just a few years.   The conversation turns to reprocessing, a lane where U.S.-Korea cooperation looks more promising and Washington is more receptive, before tackling private sector disputes that continue to prevent deeper partnership. Dalton also explains why separating nuclear-powered submarine construction from civilian nuclear objectives may pose unique challenges, why the Philadelphia shipyard is likely not a contender for where Korea's submarine gets built, and what nuclear latency means for the future of the alliance. Like and subscribe to the Korea Economic Institute of America on YouTube for more U.S.-South Korea news, analysis, politics and more! Social Links: Website: https://keia.org/ [https://keia.org/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/ [https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/ [https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/] Twitter/X: https://x.com/koreaeconinst [https://x.com/koreaeconinst] [KEI is registered under the FARA as an agent of the KIEP, a public corporation established by the government of the Republic of Korea. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.]

What Trump's Middle East Moves Mean for the Korean Peninsula | Ep. 30

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 East policy on the U.S.-South Korea alliance. Together with KEI President & CEO Scott Snyder, topics include:   — What happens to alliance readiness when U.S. assets like THAAD get pulled to the Middle East — Why growing nuclear and naval capabilities in South Korea can multiply U.S. force projection — Why nuclear submarine acquisition and uranium enrichment are fundamentally different issues — Balancing alliance modernization with non-proliferation commitments — The Taiwan contingency question and why it's a sensitive issue for Seoul — The gap between how Washington and Seoul perceive the China threat Dr. Jeonghun Min is a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA). He is  interested in conducting research on ROK-US relations, North Korea-US relations, US-China  strategic competition, and American Politics. After joining the KNDA, he has published many  policy papers on the diplomatic and security situations on the Korean Peninsula and East Asia.  He has been working as a policy adviser for the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Unification of  Republic of Korea. Dr. Min received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Georgia. Like and subscribe to the Korea Economic Institute of America on YouTube for more U.S.-South Korea news, analysis, politics and more! Social Links: Website: https://keia.org/ [https://keia.org/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/korea-economic-institute-of-america/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/ [https://www.facebook.com/KoreaEconInstitute/] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/ [https://www.instagram.com/koreaeconinst/] Twitter/X: https://x.com/koreaeconinst [https://x.com/koreaeconinst] [KEI is registered under the FARA as an agent of the KIEP, a public corporation established by the government of the Republic of Korea. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.]