2004 Posts located
During the early days of Northeast Asian economic cooperation immediately following the end of the Cold War, the China-Japan-Korea FTA (CJK FTA) was considered impossible, not even mentioned as a…
On November 20, 2012, at the Japan-China-ROK Economic and Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia,1 Ministers Edano Yukio, Chen Deming, and Bark Tae Ho, announced that they were launching…
The proposed China-Japan-Korea (CJK) FTA, if it comes to fruition, will be a major economic accomplishment in its own right; but it will also constitute an important milestone and potential…
As with many complex situations, any effort to address the question of how competing regional interests would play out in response to Korean reunification begins with “it depends.”1 Countless reunification…
Strategically located at the crossroads of Central Asia, China, and Russia, Mongolia has long attracted the attention of regional powers – including the Koreas. How is this traditionally-nomadic, but resource-rich,…
Though hesitant to officially join the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy, South Korea is seeking to promote many of the same values through the Moon administration’s “New Southern Policy.” Central to this…
The U.S. Peace Corps was active in South Korea between 1961 and 1981. One of the many volunteers who served in South Korea was KEI president and CEO Kathleen Stephens.…
This month, the world was reminded once again that the relationship between the Republic of Korea and Japan is deeply fractious. Japan has imposed restrictions on the export of chemical…
Investment Announcements July 24, 2023: Samsung SDI announced plans to establish a second EV battery manufacturing “Gigafactory” facility as part of their StarPlus Energy joint venture with Stellantis. September 27, 2023: Samsung SDI announced it will inject $1.98 billion as part of its investment into a battery factory, reportedly near Kokomo, IN where its gigafactory…
Two decades ago, South Korea was rarely called a middle power. Today, it invites ridicule to suggest South Korea is anything but a middle power. Given the concept’s ambiguity and lackluster academic credentials, why did the definition become so widely applied? The immediate answer is obvious. South Korea started to be labeled a middle power…
There are a plethora of studies on South Korea as a middle power. Some argue Korea needs to change to fit the term, some reinvent the term to fit Korea, and still others just use the term without questioning. Very few ask why we bother at all. The modern term “middle power” is an historically…
Korea has faced persistent labor shortages since the late 1980s, centered on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which tend to pay low wages for low-skilled, non-regular jobs. SMEs have faced increasing difficulty in replacing retiring workers with young people, given the large education gap between generations. In 2021, 69% of the population aged 25 to…