Economics

With relations between Korea and Japan improving over the last year the leaders of the United States, Korea, and Japan met in Washington on August 18 to discuss a common…

On May 1, 2023, KEI hosted a conversation between Ambassador Marc Knapper and Ambassador (ret.) Kathleen Stephens on potential new and expanded areas of trilateral cooperation between the United States,…

30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people’s aspiration to establish a pluralistic liberal democracy appears to be under scrutiny around the world – anti-immigration policies dominate political…

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,…

In his speech at a non-union auto workers' facility last week in lieu of a Republican debate performance, former President Donald Trump again made U.S.-Korea trade the focus of his protectionist rhetoric.  In outlining what he called his vision for the “revival of economic nationalism,” he boasted over what he believed was “saving American auto…

In celebrating seventy years of their security alliance, the United States and Korea exemplify the very best of what a robust economic partnership looks like. With terms like “friend-shoring” and “economic allies” increasingly making their way into beltway policy language, no reflection of the past seventy years of the U.S.-Korea alliance would be complete without…

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…

U.S. trade policy with South Korea has already made its way into the 2024 Republican primary talking points. In former president Donald Trump’s interview with Tucker Carlson on the X platform, which took place in lieu of a Trump appearance at the Milwaukee Republican primary debate, the issue of Trump’s tariffs on South Korean washing…

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