Asia

This paper examines policies in the renewables sector across various countries and where political tensions could generate suboptimal outcomes for the sector’s development. In its analysis of supply- and demand-side…

With North Korea becoming increasingly politically isolated, there are few channels through which the international community can remain engaged. Despite the distaste most have for Pyongyang politics, more than 24…

This paper compares Sino–South Korean management of bilateral economic and political tensions; it argues that China’s WTO entry has provided an external institutional framework for managing disputes on the economic…

On 19 December 2003, the leader of Libya, Col. Muammar El-Qaddafi, shocked the world by abruptly stating that his country was renouncing its attempts to develop weapons of mass destruction…

In March, a curious protest took place in Seoul. Private kindergartens were going on strike. Protests by industry groups or workers are not uncommon in South Korea, but something about…

North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations Kim Song demanded that the United States release a North Korean vessel that is currently held by authorities in American Samoa, warning that…

It’s been nearly one year since the Singapore Summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un and the two countries are at an impasse. North Korea signals no intention of giving…

What if our understanding of North Korea is inadvertently colored by the very resources that we rely on to deepen our knowledge of the country? What does this say about our policies…

What Happened Incheon, the longtime destination for Seoul’s garbage, is demanding Seoul city Mayor Oh Se-hoon adhere to Incheon’s request that Seoul finds a new landfill for its waste by 2025. With the increase in home deliveries during COVID-19, plastic and recyclables were thrown away at an unprecedented rate in 2020. China’s 2017 ban on trash and recyclable imports has…

What Happened On April 27, senior ROK government officials met to prepare for next month’s Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals (P4G) summit. At this preparatory meeting, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong reiterated President Moon’s statements on the importance of implementing South Korea’s carbon goals before next month’s summit. Despite Moon’s pledge to reduce emissions during a U.S.-led climate summit…

Korea stands out for its success in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and limiting its economic impact. The 1.0% fall in real GDP in 2020 was the smallest decline among the 38 member countries in the OECD. Nevertheless, employment (including the self-employed) in February 2021 was 1.8% below its year-earlier level. Women accounted for about 60%…

At the end of last week, the United States announced that President Joe Biden will host South Korean President Moon Jae-in for in-person meetings in Washington on May 21.  The statement from the White House Spokesperson said the visit “will highlight the ironclad alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea, and the…