KEI Contributor – William Brown

This chapter takes the perspective of North Korea’s leadership as it confronts difficult economic problems in the remaining months of 2018. The major current and potential issues are listed and…

Much is made in Western circles of North Korea’s economic dependence on China amid questions of whether and how much leverage this gives Beijing. In an end game, however, Pyongyang…

North Korea badly needs change but whether that change can and should be induced or forced from the outside is open to question. This paper proceeds from the perspective that…

Western media and foreign policy specialists point to a self-confident Kim Jong Un, willing to take large risks as he again contemplates dealing face-to-face with US President Donald Trump and as he works closely with Russian President Vladimir Putin to send weapons and soldiers into the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Kim continues to fire UN-prohibited…

Financial issues plagued North Korea in 2024 with Kim Jong Un’s singular success, halting the hyperinflation and currency debasement, suddenly coming unraveled in mid-year. After a decade of price and currency stability, the value of the North Korean won suddenly fell by about two-thirds between July and December. By year’s end, 27,000 won was needed…

It is hard not to be sympathetic to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol as he tries to disentangle likely changes in US economic policies by the second Donald Trump administration. He, like dozens of his peers, is clamoring to come to Washington as soon as possible to influence decisions before they are set in stone.…

South Korea narrowly avoided a technical recession in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024 as GDP eked out a disappointing 0.1 percent gain from Q2, according to the Bank of Korea. The increase follows a small decrease in Q2 and a large upturn in Q1. The Q3 data corresponds to about a 0.4 percent gain…