Smooth Sailing Ahead or Rocky Waters?: A Look at U.S.-Korea Relations in the 21st Century

By Michelle Kwon

Photo taken by The Brookings Institution

At a 2013 Georgetown University dean’s symposium, former Minister of Trade Bark Tae-ho highlighted South Korea’s three trade-related goals: revitalize trade and exports with the United States, increase the number of free trade agreements South Korea enters into, and secure continued market competitiveness via foreign investments. This three-pronged approach provides Korea the increasing momentum to secure its position as a leader within the Asia Pacific, and pursue a greater, more aggressive trade policy agenda in the 21^st century[1]; a successful conclusion and reception of the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) represents the first necessary step in helping Korea achieve its short-term and long-term goal. 

Terrorism on the Peninsula

By Michelle Kwon

 

The terrorist attack at Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya shocked the world, as innocent civilians became the unfortunate targets of the radicalized arm of a Somali terrorist group, al-Shabab. Terrorist activity has, quite unfortunately, been one of the foremost foreign policy challenges in the 21^st century facing the international community. In this vein, South Korea experienced a terrorist attack closer to home. Most recently, 3 South Korean tourists were killed in a deadly bus explosion in Egypt orchestrated by the militant group Ansar Bait al-Maqdis.

Korean Women in the Workforce (Or a Lack Thereof)

By Michelle Kwon

A realistic ratio of men to women in the Korean workforce (image courtesy of Washingtonpost.com)

While South Korea has an enviable unemployment rate, currently hovering at about 3.9 percent, that figure obscures more complexities about the work environment in Korea than it reveals. Korea’s economy has grown dramatically since the 1970’s, often referred to as an “economic miracle” and earning the title as one of the four Asian Tigers. This success has been in large part the result of the labor of women working in low status and low wage jobs within the manufacturing industries. “The Miracle on the Han River”[1] was achieved on the backs of Korean female factory workers. The labor force participation rate of women increased from 26.8 percent in 1960 to 47.6 percent in 1995 as women left the rural areas and moved to the cities for work in the new factories and businesses. Until the early 1990s, women were employed in labor-intensive sectors such as textiles, food processing, and manufacturing; these very sectors provided the export goods that created Korea’s economic growth, and yet the contribution of women to the development of Korea is rarely spoken of. As Korea has become a more advanced country with greater lucrative economic opportunities, job creation has shifted to services sector, which happens to be a natural progression for countries that pass the threshold from “developing” to “developed.”

A Brief Overview of Korean Trade Prospectives for 2014

By Michelle Kwon 

President Obama attends TPP negotiations during the 2012 ASEAN Summit. (Image courtesy of Whitehouse.gov)

According to former Assistant United States Trade Representative for Congressional Affairs Luis Jimenez, the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) is the most sophisticated Free Trade Agreement signed by either country, not for its unprecedented expansion of market access for both countries, but for its significant advancement of bilateral cooperation in the professional service industries.  The most notable of the final text, which successfully came into force on March 15, 2012, delineates cross-border trade in services, specifically in regards to legal entities and telecommunication corporations.

Korea is now looking to sign a bilateral free trade agreement with China: South Korea’s single-largest trading partner. Trade with China (ex-Hong Kong) consists of 21.8% of Korea’s overall trade according to 2012 statistics.