Economics

In 2010, a group of Asian countries made major strides toward economic integration with the launch of the Chang Mai Initiative Multilateralization. This currency swap arrangement has had a major…

This week our guest is noted scholar and North Korea watcher Dr. Stephan Haggard. Dr. Haggard is a Professor of Korea-Pacific Studies and director of the Korea-Pacific Program at the…

At KEI, we mainly focus on the relationship between the United States and South Korea, and their approaches toward North Korea. This week, we're taking a different look at the…

Last week, we looked at the details of the new US and UN sanctions against North Korea, delving into the new measures to get at Pyongyang's funding. But will they…

North Korea was the first country to severely restrict travel and trade across its borders when the pandemic began in 2020. While the rest of the world has since largely returned to normal, many of North Korea’s COVID restrictions remained in place at the beginning of 2023. However, Pyongyang began to ease these constraints in…

In April 2023, provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) went into effect regarding standards for battery components and critical mineral materials. This had been the source of significant uncertainty for Korean electric vehicle (EV) makers and their suppliers as Korean companies were subsequently left off the list of eligible vehicles for the Section 30D…

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…

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