Economics

We imagine North Korea as a country that is carrying on not only a conflict left over from the Cold War, but also a decrepit legacy economy from the past.…

When people talk about South Korea’s foreign policy, they are more often than not focused on how Seoul engages with its immediate neighbors on denuclearization. However, as a global trading…

2018 has been an incredibly eventful year for both the Koreas and the U.S.-Korea relationship: from North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics at the start of the year to…

The Trump Administration is once again considering using Section 232 to impose tariffs on imported goods based on a threat to national security. The President originally used this provision to…

By Kyle Ferrier The Panama Papers have already exposed a number of national leaders in schemes to hide personal wealth in shell companies and will be of greater consequence in early May when the full list of businesses created through Mossack Fonseca are made available. Most of those implicated have utilized the services of the…

By William Brown China surprised many Washington pundits by signing on in February to what looks like fairly tough trade sanctions on North Korea.  Most importantly, it agreed to put a halt to its purchases of coal and metal ores to the extent that these provide foreign exchange to North Korea’s military and to the…

KEI Communications Director Jenna Gibson, host of Korean Kontext, recently interviewed Dr. Stephan Haggard of the University of California-San Diego on the North Korean economy, the role of black markets, and the potential impacts of new UN sanctions. The following is a partial transcript of that conversation. The rest of the conversation can be found…

By Eunchong Moses Park On April 13, 2016, South Korea will hold elections for the 20th National Assembly. Despite the tension from North Korea’s nuclear test and satellite launch earlier this year, the election has been fought largely on domestic issues rather than foreign policy. With the campaign now underway, the National Election Commission has…

As disruptions in supply chains continue, what practical steps can the U.S. and Korea take to strengthen supply chains against future crises?