Asia

Economic relations between Korea and the United States reached new heights in the year 2006 with the launch of negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement. While the negotiations were…

Rapid economic development lifted Korea’s per capita income from 15 percent of the U.S. level in 1970 to approximately half by 2005. Growth has been based primarily on inputs of…

The insatiable appetites of banks, insurance companies, pensions, endowments, and high-net-worth individuals make enormous capital possible for private equity funds. The private equity market has become an important source of…

The importance of having an efficient labor market is growing because of recent trends such as globalization, the development of information-communication technology (ICT), and the increasing need for foreign direct…

Hello again after the holiday break! Just before the holidays I spoke with Hawon Lee, who was just wrapping up his nearly four years as Washington D.C. Bureau Chief of…

In this episode we speak with Mr. Ken E. Gause, currently a senior research analyst with the International Affairs Group and Iranian Studies Program at CNA Strategic Studies in Alexandria,…

In this episode, we are joined by Balbina Hwang, currently a visiting professor at Georgetown University and the National Defense University here in D.C. Ms. Hwang is here to speak…

This episode takes us directly into the office of Ambassador Han Duk-Soo, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United States, who shares his thoughts on the much-anticipated G-20…

Last December, South Korea and Vietnam commemorated their 30th diplomatic anniversary by upgrading the bilateral relations from a ‘strategic partnership’ to a ‘comprehensive and strategic partnership (CSP).’ South Korea represents a notable case as the first middle power to establish such relations with Vietnam, following China, Russia, and India. While economic, technological, and security cooperation…

March saw President Yoon Suk Yeol make significant efforts to realize his campaign goal of rehabilitating relations with Japan. After a trip to Tōkyō to meet with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, the president told his Cabinet that the two countries must look towards the future. “Korea-Japan relations can and must be a win-win relationship that…

On March 30, the South Korean Ministry of Unification published a 450-page report on human rights abuses in North Korea.  The report was drafted in accordance with the provisions of South Korea’s North Korea Human Rights Act of 2016, which specifies that the Ministry of Unification shall produce an annual report on human rights in…

The OECD’s March Interim Economic Outlook projects that Korea’s real GDP will increase by 1.6% in 2023, matching the Bank of Korea’s February forecast. The new projection is a slight downward revision from the OECD’s November 2022 outlook in the context of below-trend global economic growth. The impact of the war in Ukraine and high…