May 25, 2011

2008 Ambassadors’ Dialogue Program Reaches Audiences Coast-ToCoast

By James H. Alvis, Julia B. Cunico

KEI recently completed its seventeenth annual Ambassadors’ Dialogue program. The tour was the third featuring Lee Tae-sik, the Republic of Korea’s Ambassador to the United...

May 25, 2011

The Bulldozer Moves In: Lee Myung-bak is Inaugurated as the Republic of Korea’s President

By Julia B. Cunico

On February 25, Lee Myung-bak was sworn in as the President of the Republic of Korea. In front of a crowd of some 60,000 gathered,...

May 25, 2011

Competitiveness: Korea’s Latest Economic Challenge

By Julia B. Cunico, Louellen Stedman

Korea is a tough economic competitor. Its meteoric rise over just 30 years from one of the poorest in the world to the ranks of...

May 25, 2011

Lee Myung-bak Elected President of the Republic of Korea

By James Lister

On December 19, the voters of South Korea elected Lee Myung-bak, the previous mayor of Seoul and a former business executive, to be the next...

May 25, 2011

Tide Turning for Korea’s Auto Imports?

By James H. Alvis

Anyone who has spent time in the bustling streets of Seoul is familiar with the scene: commuters crowding into Daewoo buses, while salary men hurry...

May 25, 2011

Eyes on the Prize: Second North-South Summit Announced, Postponed Due to DPRK Floods

By Scott Rembrandt

As bodies of North Korean dead floated across the demilitarized zone into the South after massive flooding swept through the DPRK, North Korea requested a...

May 25, 2011

U.S. International Trade Commission Finds FTA Would Substantially Affect U.S.-Korea Trade and Investment, Korea Pushes Ahead

By Troy Stangarone

On September 20, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) released its report on the KORUS FTA. The ITC study is a required analysis under Trade...

May 25, 2011

Ambassadors’ Double Header Hits The Road: Six Cities in Eight Days

By James H. Alvis

KEI recently completed its sixteenth annual Ambassadors’ Dialogue program (previously called the Korea Caravan), featuring Lee Tae-sik, the Republic of Korea’s Ambassador to the United...

May 25, 2011

Brain Drain: Korea Exports Human Capital

By Florence Lowe-Lee

Human capital is the most important form of wealth in a knowledge-based economy. The success of a nation in today’s economy depends significantly upon how...

May 25, 2011

Rulings, New Agreements, and Advisory Committee Assessments Alter the Course for the KORUS FTA

By Troy Stangarone

May brought several significant developments for the KORUS FTA. On May 10, the Bush Administration and Congress announced an agreement on a new trade policy,...

May 25, 2011

Korea’s Real Estate Market: Are We Overreacting to Skyrocketing Property Prices?

By Florence Lowe-Lee

The most popular conversation topic in Korea these days is not North Korea’s nuclear program or the KORUS FTA, but the skyrocketing real estate prices....

May 25, 2011

Korea’s Economy: Decent Short-run Outlook but Long-run Challenges

By James Lister

Real growth in 2006, at 5 percent, did not fully measure up to the more optimistic forecasts of a year ago but did represent a...