Economics

In this episode of Korean Kontext, guest host Kyle Ferrier, KEI's director of academic affairs and research, sits down with Korea Society President Tom Byrne. Before joining the Korea Society…

Ever since Myanmar's political and economic opening several years ago, countries have been looking to get in on the ground floor to build ties with this emerging economy in Southeast…

For the first Korean Kontext podcast of 2017, five members of the KEI staff sat down with host Jenna Gibson for a chat about the volitility of 2016 and what…

Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 woes have hit a crescendo in recent weeks, with the company officially halting production and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officially banning the devices from all…

The OECD Economic Outlook, released on June 8th, projected that real GDP growth in OECD countries would drop by half from 5.5% in 2021 to 2.7% in 2022. The new projection is a sharp reduction from its December 2021 Outlook, which projected growth of 4.5% growth this year. With inflation expected to rise from 3.7%…

Yoon Suk Yeol was inaugurated on May 9th as Korea’s twentieth president. He takes office at a difficult with the global economy disrupted by the war in Ukraine and an increasingly threatening North Korea, which has launched 16 missile tests thus far this year. Meanwhile, inflation has accelerated to 4.8% (year-on-year), its fastest pace since…

On May 3, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration announced its 6 broad visions that will guide its policymaking over the next five years. These include (1) policy and legal reforms, (2) economic growth, (3) welfare, (4) education and innovation, (5) security, and (6) regional developments. Digging into their subcomponents, there are several continuities between Yoon's vision…

South Korea has one of the lowest food self-sufficiency rates among OECD countries. Supply chain constraints during the pandemic brought the country’s reliance on food imports into focus. Now, the crisis in Ukraine, coupled with India’s restriction of wheat exports, threatens to further raise domestic food prices. Even after experiencing a sudden spike in global…

As disruptions in supply chains continue, what practical steps can the U.S. and Korea take to strengthen supply chains against future crises?