Asia

Along with commercial banks, capital markets are an integral part of the financial systems in most capitalist economies, and their relative importance is constantly increasing. Countries around the world are…

Central banks have two responsibilities: (1) stabilize the value of the currency and (2) maintain public confidence in deposit money by limiting systemic risk. The first responsibility is primary, ongoing,…

In the unfolding process of the Korean financial crisis in 1997, an inefficient corporate bankruptcy system played a damaging role in the Korean economy. Before the crisis, in 1996 and…

Although Korea has seen its economic growth rates come down from the stratospheric heights of previous decades, it remains, by any advanced-country yardstick, a successful economic performer. Korea’s real GDP…

North Korea is putting on a tough face as the world confronts the COVID-19 pandemic. Authorities in Pyongyang continue to reassure the rest of the world that nothing is wrong…

Looking back on the Korean War, one might assume that the outbreak of a violent conflict that killed millions of people would preclude the possibility of a peaceful resolution of…

It would not be an exaggeration to claim that the Korean War shaped world history. There had been bloodshed elsewhere that bookmarked the start of the bitter conflict between the…

The international force that answered the United Nation’s call to defend the Republic of Korea between 1950 and 1953 did more than engage in combat with North Korean and Chinese…

“[Kim Jong-un] stressed the need for the fishing industrial sector to conduct a work for catching more fish…” --From the report on the 4th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the WPK This year, the summary of the recently-convened Party Plenum stood in for Kim Jong-un’s new year’s address. The report sought to…

A curious feature of advanced industrial states is anxiety about the future of democracy, not only abroad but at home as well. These worries—encapsulated in the concept of backsliding--have been particularly evident in the United States following the challenges posed by the Trump administration. The bruising fight over Brexit in Britain and the rise of…

Korea is expected to apply later this year for membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade agreement between eleven states in the Indo-Pacific. One signatory of the agreement is Japan, raising fears that bilateral tensions may encourage Tokyo to oppose Seoul's bid. But noting their shared membership in another…

The AUKUS trilateral security partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States has been received with much international attention, as well as concern. Under the pact, Australia has been formally granted capacity as a third country to acquire nuclear-powered submarines—the first of such case since the 1958 Mutual Defense Agreement between the US…