Economics

Anyone who has spent time in Korea knows the term Yellow Dust. Sand from Mongolia sweeps across China, picking up pollutants and carrying them across borders. Every spring, Koreans bring…

Last week, North Korea launched its Seventh Worker's Party Congress, a major meeting of regime leaders that has not been convened in 36 years. Although analysts had high expectations for…

In this episode, we take a step back from the Korean Peninsula and take a look at Northeast Asia from the perspective of one of its neighbors – Russia. In…

On May 1, South Korean President Park Geun-hye will travel to Tehran, Iran for a summit meeting with her counterpart, President Hassan Rouhani. This visit will be the first time a…

Korea’s real GDP growth will rebound to more than 2 percent in 2024 and 2025, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s bi-annual economic projections published at the end of November (Figure 1). The OECD’s outlook of 2.3 percent next year is in line with the 2.1 percent and 2.2 percent forecasts…

The latest guidance for electric vehicle (EV) subsidies doubles down on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s vision for a “small yard, high fence.” On Monday, the Treasury Department in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Energy (DOE) issued proposed regulation defining what it means to be a foreign entity of…

Korea’s development from one of the poorest countries in the world in the 1950s to a major industrial power has been exceptionally rapid. Per capita income increased from 10% of that in the United States in 1970 to 70% by 2020 (Figure 1). Moreover, Korea has surpassed Japan. Korea’s rapid transformation was achieved through effective…

South Korea stands at a critical demographic juncture, facing a declining birthrate that has far-reaching implications for its economy and society. The increasingly severe demographic trends have pushed the government and society to consider which policy measures might offset the social and economic consequences of demographic decline. Fertility quickly declined from an average of six…

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