Asia

Why is South Korea pilot-testing its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), and what made it shift from non-issuance to consideration? This paper investigates the Bank of Korea (BOK)’s CBDC-related developments…

How is the increasing spread of artificial intelligence (AI) likely to shape the cyber capabilities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK; North Korea) in the coming years? Over…

In this new article of KEI’s Korea’s Economy,  Dr. Bark Taeho (President of the Global Commerce Institute of Lee & Ko and Former Minister for Trade) notes that Korea has faced…

The COVID-19 pandemic caught almost all countries unprepared. Some countries, including South Korea (hereafter Korea), managed to deal with the pandemic relatively more successfully than others and had a proactive…

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…

‘It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove, or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or…

What Happened Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl stepped down on March 4 to protest the passage of a series of bills that limit prosecutor's investigative power. After opposing the Democratic Party(DP)-backed decision, Yoon's popularity rose in a poll of prospective candidates for the 2022 presidential election, though he has not announced his candidacy. Similarly, polls show Seoul residents favoring the opposing PPP…

What Happened The Moon administration released a statement on March 9 explaining that it may join the U.S.-led Quad+ alliance in the Indo-Pacific in an effort to gain U.S. support on North Korea policy. On March 8, the United States and South Korea reached an agreement for the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) negotiations on cost-sharing for U.S.…

After more than a year since the previous one expired, the U.S. and South Korea finally agreed to terms for a new military burden-sharing deal. The Special Measures Agreement (SMA) had previously been hostage to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s transactional approach to alliances which proved to be a looming threat to U.S.- Korea ties.…