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…

In this episode, Korean Kontext speaks with Ms. Jie-ae Sohn, President of Arirang TV & Radio, Korea’s first English language international broadcast system. Ms. Sohn worked as the former CNN…

Preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons has emerged to be one of the key foreign policy priorities of the Obama administration. Despite efforts among Western powers to form a united…

By the time you read this, the KORUS FTA will have entered the implementation stage. To celebrate, Korean Kontext caught up with two of the main movers-and-shakers behind the deal…

This episode of Korean Kontext has a distinctly British flavor, featuring interviews with two leading Ambassador’s that work closely on UK and Korea related affairs. While recently in London, Korean…

By Troy Stangarone Three months after announcing that they had reached a preliminary agreement, South Korea and China formally announced the conclusion of their free trade agreement (FTA) talks. The additional time allowed the two governments to finalize additional details to strengthen the agreement such as a standstill provision to preclude either country from increasing…

By Matthew Nitkoski Nearly six years ago, the last attempt at multilateral engagement with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ended with the secretive Kim regime vowing to continue its uranium enrichment program. In the intervening years, neither allies nor enemies have been able to convince Pyongyang to halt its nuclear efforts and the fragile…

By Troy Stangarone When North Korea withdrew its workers from the Kaesong Industrial Complex in 2013, confidence in the inter-Korean venture was severely damaged. Firms in the complex lost not only production and revenue, but contracts as well. Over the last year, South Korea has sought to make the complex more resilient in the face…

By Nicholas Hamisevicz Early January is usually a time of optimism as goals are set and plans are made for a new year. Regrettably, there is often little progress on those efforts just a few weeks later. For inter-Korean relations, a similar process occurs. There is hope for better relations as both leaders usually have…