Eye on Korea

About Eye on Korea

The Korea Economic Institute of America is pleased to present Eye on Korea, a program designed to provide expert analysis on the most pressing issues shaping US-Korea relations. [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.]

Publisher

Korea Economic Institute

Category

government · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

27 Jan 2025

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

43 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   9 Oct 2026

   What Gives Korean Start-ups Their Edge | Eye on Korea Ep. 44

   The U.S.-South Korea technology relationship is roughly 85 percent collaboration and 15 percent competition, according to Timothy Hwang, Co-founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Nitra. He argues that the two countries’ cultures and economies have grown so intertwined that no Korean administration has much room to tilt away from Washington. That collaboration runs through chips, batteries, and critical minerals, through electric vehicles and AI, and through GLP-1 drug partnerships with Korean companies. Hwang also discusses Korea’s startup culture and why the country has produced so many unicorns, weighing the roles of capital markets, government investment, and the path dependency of a postwar economy. He explains why the size, diversity, and complexity of U.S. consumer spending make America the market Korean founders build toward. On the government’s role, Hwang argues that Washington’s job in innovation is to set the right incentives for innovators. He draws on his companies in healthcare, cybersecurity, and AI to describe how the private sector and government can work together. He also covers how U.S. and Korean industrial policies interact, why AI belongs in the defense conversation, and where biotech goes next. Hwang spoke with KEI President and CEO Scott Snyder on this episode of Eye on Korea. In addition to leading Nitra, he is the founder and managing partner of Inauguration Capital, co-founder and chairman of Jericho Security, Vibranium Labs, Amber, Exponent, and Ceno, and the founder of FiscalNote. He has been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 and Goldman Sachs's 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, and was an EY Entrepreneur of the Year for the Mid-Atlantic region. He studied at Princeton University and Harvard Business School. [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.]

2. 

   9 Oct 2026

   Conditions, Timelines, and the Transfer of Wartime Command | Eye on Korea Ep. 43

   The United States and South Korea agreed long ago to transfer wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces once a set of conditions had been met, replacing a fixed date that was already pushed back once. Now, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung aims to complete the transfer before his term ends in 2030. U.S. Forces Korea Commander Xavier Brunson has said the allies aim to meet the conditions no later than the first quarter of 2029, and the two countries’ defense chiefs may recommend a target year to both presidents after their annual Security Consultative Meeting this fall. Meanwhile, the 2026 U.S. National Defense Strategy assesses that South Korea can take primary responsibility for deterring North Korea with “critical but more limited’ U.S. support. In Hyo Seol is Professor in the Department of Strategic Studies at Korea National Defense University and Director of its National Defense Policy Research Center. He previously served as an advisor to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and as a visiting fellow at the U.S. National Defense University. In his July 2026 article for KEI’s Korea Policy journal, he argues that alliance modernization need not mean a smaller U.S. commitment and can instead rest on a redistribution of roles grounded in converging military interests. In this episode, he explains why OPCON transfer has taken two decades. He points to the scale of the change itself, North Korea’s advancing weapons programs, the shifting relationships of Beijing and Pyongyang with the West, and the different priorities and sequencing of elected governments in Washington and Seoul. He opens up the combined command structure that remains a black box to many researchers and even policymakers, weighs the distinct benefits of the conditions-based model and a fixed timeline, and considers what would change with a South Korean four-star general in command of combined forces and a U.S. four-star as deputy. He also takes up burden-sharing, the Donald Trump administration’s defense priorities and what it expects of allies, and what institutionalizing alliance modernization would require. On North Korea, he discusses how the regime may read a transfer, whether it would test the new arrangement, and why the status quo may make it less cautious. [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.]

3. 

   3 Sept 2026

   What Replaced the Tariffs the Supreme Court Struck Down | Eye on Korea Ep. 42

   The Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs on February 20, 2026, holding that the statute never authorized the President to impose them. The tariff era did not end there. It moved to other statutes. First a 10 percent Section 122 surcharge, then a Section 301 forced-labor action took effect, imposing duties of 10 to 12.5 percent on roughly sixty economies covering the overwhelming majority of U.S. imports. Korea is on that list, and Korea is also one of sixteen economies under a second Section 301 investigation into structural excess capacity in manufacturing. Barbara Weisel spent thirteen years as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific and served as the U.S. chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership from its inception through its signing. Earlier at USTR she held the Korea portfolio as Deputy Assistant USTR for Bilateral Asian Affairs. In this episode she takes up the legal durability of the authorities now carrying U.S. tariff policy, how Section 301 differs from IEEPA and Section 122 in ways that may make it harder to challenge, the widening use of Section 232 across metals, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, and the tension between tariffing the inputs American factories need and the reshoring those tariffs are meant to produce. She also assesses whether the U.S.-China truce holds through the fall summitry, what it will take to move Korea's investment commitments from memorandum to disbursement, and what Seoul should do differently in Washington. [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.]

Who has been a guest on Eye on Korea

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Bruce Klingner
• Jeannette Chu
• Tami Overby
• Matthew P Goodman
• Rachel Minyoung Lee

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 38 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

44

Social presence

94

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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