This may end of backfiring on the Moon administration:

Robert Gallucci, head of the USKI

The U.S.-Korea Institute (USKI) stated it will close next month due to a cut in funding from the South Korean government, media outlets reported Tuesday.

The USKI is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, affiliated with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. It runs the website 38 North specializing in North Korea affairs.

The USKI received 2.1 billion won ($1.87 million) in annual funding from the government, through the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office.

This is about 60 percent of its total budget, according to a KIEP official. The USKI also receives funding from Johns Hopkins University, she said.

According to AP, USKI Chairman Robert Gallucci said the think tank will close in May, after rejecting “utterly inappropriate meddling” in its academic affairs.

Earlier, the government stated it would stop funding the institute starting in June, citing problems with transparency in accounting and selecting visiting scholars and interns.

The USKI claimed there had been pressure from Cheong Wa Dae to oust the institute’s director Jae H. Ku, due to his conservative inclinations that were out of line with the liberal Moon Jae-in administration. Ku has headed the think tank since 2007.   [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.  For those who haven’t I recommend reading my prior post on this subject as well.  The 38North.org website operated by USKI has a posting up saying they will continue to publish.

The silencing of the US-Korea Institute I think may backfire because they have been largely friendly to the Moon administration’s policies.  Now that the organization is no longer funded by the Korean government their may be more of a willingness to take on the Moon administration.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.