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…

From 1966 to 1981, around 2,000 Peace Corps volunteers lived and worked in South Korea. After returning to the United States, many volunteers wanted a way to share their Korean…

October 2015 will mark 25 years since the official reunification of East and West Germany. Meanwhile, the Korean Peninsula remains divided. South Korean President Park Geun-Hye has referenced Germany many…

The Eugene Bell Foundation has been working in the DPRK for 20 years. Now they focus on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), a deadly disease that is incredibly expensive and time-consuming to…

In the recent agreement between Seoul and Pyeongyang to defuse tensions along the DMZ, the two governments included a promise to "vitalize" non-governmental organization (NGO) exchanges in various fields.   …

The visit by Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio to South Korea earlier this month created a few ripples. No major announcements were made, and the two leaders pledged to continue efforts to bolster ties. In South Korea, the opposition Democratic Party issued a somewhat ritual denunciation of the Yoon Suk-yeol government for “undermining national interest…

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign position to implement tariffs of up to 10 percent—or even 20 percent as his pronouncements have suggested—has grabbed the attention of the international business community. It was also featured prominently in the first and possibly only debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Already, analysts are concerned about the…

Several important economic figures released by the South Korean government last week suggest that the overall economy is in good shape. One perplexing trend, however, is the less sanguine numbers reported on the general perception and sentiment about the country’s macroeconomic performance. This seeming discrepancy is worth examination because “feelings” about the economy can affect…

On August 13, South Korea and Vietnam celebrated the completed construction of the Vietnam-Korea Cooperation Center for Smart City and Construction Technology (VKC) in Hanoi. The VKC is symbolic in that it represents renewed bilateral cooperation following the COVID-19 pandemic and because it has withstood a shift in South Korean administrations. The center was initially…