Asia

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most significant economic disruption to the international economy since the Great Depression. The IMF estimates that the global economy contracted by 3.5 percent last…

Today’s global economy is highly interconnected and interdependent. Supply chains across the world are finely tuned to deliver parts just when they are needed, so that companies and industries do…

Japan led, and was transformed, by the global supply chain revolution. Facing growing protectionism in industrialized markets and reeling from sharp yen appreciation in the aftermath of the 1985 Plaza…

The U.S.-China trade war and the pandemic have had a profound impact on cross-border supply chains. In the past few years of U.S.-China tensions, China has been accused of engaging…

Every year on January 13, the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) sponsors a luncheon in Washington, DC to mark Korean American Day and recognize the local and national Korean…

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…

It started in 2009 with a few audio lessons. Within just six years, Talk to Me in Korean has grown into a huge hit, with millions of listeners from all…

Since the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994 there have been numerous predictions that the collapse of the North Korean political system would be imminent, yet the Kim dynasty continues…

What Happened On May 21, Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden met to discuss the US-ROK alliance, vaccine partnerships, supply chains, and North Korea. Shortly after the summit, Moon announced a joint agreement on removing guidelines that limit the distance South Korean missiles can travel. The move is seen as a path for South Korea to develop greater sovereignty over its domestic…

The summit between President Joe Biden and President Moon Jae-in on May 21 was a resounding success.  Substantively and symbolically they reaffirmed the important strategic and economic relationship between Seoul and Washington.  But at the same time, they carefully avoided the differences between the two on how to proceed in dealing with North Korea, particularly…

Despite the completion of the internal policy review and a successful summit, newly-appointed North Korea envoy Sung Kim faces many of the same constraints that have long plagued U.S. North Korea policy. The Biden administration has rightly acknowledged that any engagement implies “a calibrated, practical approach.” But there are simply not that many policy levers…

What Happened On April 1, Minjok Sarangbang, a small South Korean publishing company, printed copies of Kim Il Sung’s 1992 memoir, With the Century without the required government approval. The Ministry of Unification is investigating the situation, and South Korean retailers pulled the books from their shelves. Multiple conservative civic groups filed an injunction to prevent the sale of Kim’s memoir claiming it could endanger…