Asia

Digitalization could open a new era of growth for Korea. Previous expansion waves, based on traditional industries, have fostered export-led growth and placed Korea among the world’s top ten economies.…

After an initial surge in cases, Korea was less seriously affected by the COVID-19 virus than other countries, but the subsequent recovery was relatively mild. The negative effect was concentrated…

This paper deals with one of the most critical issues in contemporary international relations: how China’s rise challenges foreign policies of U.S. allies, with a focus on the Republic of…

The rivalry between the United States and China is affecting countries in its midst. This particularly applies to South Korea. The country is a strong economic player with a successful…

In this episode we speak with Doug Goudie, Director of International Trade Policy at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Mr. Goudie draws from his experiences to share his perspective…

In this episode we hear from Tami Overby, Vice President for Asia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and former President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea. Ms.…

Now in its tenth year, KEI’s Opinion Leaders Seminar (OLS) is an annual gathering of some of the world’s foremost policymakers and scholars on the U.S.-South Korean alliance. In this…

An exclusive interview with Dr. Alon Levkowitz, author of the most recent edition of the Korea Economic Institute’s Academic Paper Series. His paper, titled “The Republic of Korea and the…

Labor market dualism – the segmentation between regular and non-regular workers -- is deeply entrenched in Korea’s labor market. Regular workers receive higher wages and social insurance coverage and a high degree of job security, while non-regular workers receive lower wages, are less likely to be covered by social insurance and work in precarious jobs.…

Last month was the fifth anniversary of North Korea's assassination of Kim Jong-nam using VX, a deadly nerve agent. On 13 February 2017, the half brother of Chairman Kim Jong-un was attacked by North Korean proxies in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. Experts say that the deployment of a horrific weapon outside of…

In a previous post, we asked the question of whether the Korean electorate was becoming more polarized, looking at the ideological differences across all citizens and those who identified most strongly with the two major parties. Our findings were that politics was becoming somewhat more polarized, but more sharply among partisans than the general public.…

The New Southern Policy (NSP) is considered one of President Moon Jae-in’s signature foreign policies, along with the New Northern Policy (NNP). It was implemented in November 2017 shortly following his inauguration to foster stronger diplomatic and economic ties with Southeast Asia and India,[1] and consequently bolster South Korea’s independence in leading its foreign relations.…