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…

  With the recent retirement by Yi So-yeon, South Korea’s remaining astronaut, many have turned attention to Korea, wondering whether there is a future for its space program. According to Daniel Pinkston of the…

    North Korea has engaged in various forms of economic reforms and marketization attempts such as establishing Special Economic Zones and obtaining Foreign Direct Investment. Yet, many of North…

    In this episode, we talk with Dr. Yiagadeesen Samy of Carleton University on income inequality in South Korea and its affect on Korea’s economy. Dr. Samy is an economist…

The steep decline in Korea’s fertility rate has created concern. In 2020, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births for the first time, according to census data from the Ministry of Interior and Safety. The Ministry stated that “amid the rapidly declining birthrate, the government needs to undertake fundamental changes to its relevant…

On August 9th, President Biden signed the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act to boost U.S. investment in the semiconductor industry and incentivize domestic manufacturers. Some of its major provisions incentivize investment in the United States by major foreign chip manufacturers, namely those from Taiwan and South Korea. Framed as a…

On July 4, the foreign ministers of South Korea and Mexico agreed to expand economic cooperation. Building on the resumption of free trade agreement negotiations earlier this year, the two nations emphasized economic security and supply chains as areas for increased collaboration. In addition to directly responding to global concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic’s ongoing…

*Since the below article was published, KakaoTalk decided to drop its challenge against Google's control over in-app payments. However, Korea's revised Telecommunications Business Act still sets the stage for future challenges with global ramifications. Google suspended software updates for KakaoTalk, South Korea’s most popular mobile messaging app, after the latter refused the U.S. tech giant’s demand…

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