The US-Korea Policy Project is a one-man think tank founded by scholar and traveler Mitchell Blatt. I share my thoughts about South Korea and U.S. politics and foreign policy and interview experts about topics such as nuclear weapons, history, sanctions, and even Korea's hagwons/education policy.
During my travels throughout Asia, I immersed myself in local culture. I learned the history of the places I visited and picked up a couple of languages along the way (Korean and Mandarin Chinese; I’m currently working on Thai). I volunteered and taught English to North Korean refugees. I reported on the democracy protests in Hong Kong, the impeachment of Park Geun-hye in South Korea, gay rights in Vietnam, and coronavirus in China.
The Chinese scholar Gu Yanwu was quoted as saying the path to wisdom is thus: “Walk 10,000 li and read 10,000 scrolls.”
So, after years of walking, I returned to school to get my master’s of arts in IR at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies, where I focused on Korea Studies, China Studies, and International Economics. Now I can bring the knowledge I accumulated from practical experience and research together.
Gu Yanwu also said, “The rise and fall of the nation concerns everyone.”
We are all responsible for the fate of the world. We stand at a crossroads. Russia has invaded Ukraine, a democracy. North Korea is threatening South Korea. And China is flying fighter planes around Taiwan.
This concerns Americans and people all over the world. We help support Korea. The U.S. stations troops in Korea. Men and women from sixteen nations volunteered their lives to fight and die so the Republic of Korea could remain free. Twenty-five other countries sent medical support and aid. If you have tasted samgyeopsar barbecue in Dongdaemun, grilled eel in Busan, or dak-galbi chicken stir-fry in Chuncheon…; if you have watched a Korean baseball game…; if you have seen Koreans holding up candle lights in Gwanghwamun Square, you would understand the beauty that is freedom and democracy in the ROK.
We must protect democracy. At a time when freedom and democracy are being threatened, I decided to start this project to help promote the maintainance of democracy in one of its few strongholds in Asia. You can support me in this mission by subscribing, becoming a premium subscriber, and donating a coffee or two.
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Support democracy in Asia. My newsletter explains what is going on in South Korea and what is necessary for the maintenance of safety and prosperity in the region.
Korea is at the razor’s edge. It was the first war of the Cold War. It was the point of conflict that led to World War I. Imperial Japan invaded and occupied Korea in order to gain access to China and set in motion its colonization of Asia, which led to World War II.
Now North Korea is threatening Korea with nuclear weapons and China is engaging in economic warfare.
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