2004 Posts located
In September 2008, reports began to circulate in the world media that Chairman Kim Jong-il might be in serious condition after having suffered a stroke, and discussion on possible post-Kim…
Despite the clear benefits of KORUS FTA for the United States and Korea, it has been stalled for nearly 18 months due to disputes over U.S. beef and the sale…
In important respects this conference reflected two somewhat contrasting perspectives on the just completed U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). Those two perspectives, the one dealing principally with specifically economic…
The global crisis that was ignited by the meltdown in the U.S. subprime mortgage market is a dramatic illustration of just how interdependent our economic and financial systems have become.…
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…
What Happened The ruling Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung proposed another round of universal payments to help citizens overcome the economic challenges posed by COVID-19. However, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum and the government claimed that they do not have the capacity to provide another round of universal relief funds. A nationwide public poll showed that 60.1% of Koreans agree…
Observing the recent success of the TV show Squid Game on Netflix, many commenters suggest that the entry of multinational streaming platforms has been a net positive for Korea’s creative industry. The streaming platform has invested over USD 700 million into projects such as Kingdom and Sweet Home. For smaller Korean content creators, Netflix offers…
Korea’s real GDP increased 1.2% (saar) in 2021Q3, a significant slowdown from the first two quarters of the year, reflecting a decline in private consumption (table below). A tightening of social distancing measures since July, aimed at slowing a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, reduced spending on “consumer-facing services”. For example, demand in the food…
What Happened One of South Korea’s major telecommunications providers KT suffered a nationwide outage on October 25, causing widespread disruptions to daily tasks that require internet connectivity such as virtual classes, food delivery orders, and stock trading. A National Assembly hearing five days before the incident questioned telecommunications providers about the quality of the network services. The government still intends to…