In The News

Times of India: Can Trump Charm Kim?

Nayan Chanda April 13, 2018
US President Donald Trump relies on global crises and foreign policy disruptions to distract from an ongoing investigation into Russian meddling with the 2016 US presidential election: tariff threats, US troop withdrawal from Syria and missile threats, dispatch of US troops to the Mexican border and notably a snap decision to meet with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. “All of these moves threaten to...

Reuters: US to Take Another Look at TPP

April 13, 2018
One of President Donald Trump’s early acts in office was to withdraw the United States from Trans Pacific Partnership – a trade pact for Pacific Rim nations. The other 11 nations, led by Japan, concluded the negotiation without the United States and with some US-supported terms on investment and intellectual property. “Republican senators met with Trump on Thursday and he told them that he has...

East Asia Foundation: FDI Outflow Surge From South Korea

Namsuk Choi April 11, 2018
Foreign direct investment outflows from South Korea are surging, increasing by more than 30 percent annually since 2010. Such levels can signal economic growth, but can also warn about rising wages, tax rates and regulations that erode a country’s manufacturing base and eliminate jobs, explains Namsuk Choi for East Asia Foundation. “The Moon Jae-in administration’s economic policies have had...

Politico: How Trump Could Lose a Trade War With China

Doug Palmer April 10, 2018
After demanding concessions from allies by imposing steel and aluminum tariffs in March, US President Donald Trump has instigated a trade war with China without a strong global coalition for support. Analysts suggest that China, an authoritarian regime lacking in democratic or free market oversight, can move more nimbly and undergo less political backlash on the home front if a full-blown trade...

Foreign Affairs: When Trump Meets Kim

Toby Dalton and Ariel Levite April 4, 2018
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un caught the world by surprise after the two agreed to meet in May and explore the possibility of nuclear disarmament. The promise of a peace summit, following a year of strained and at times threatening rhetoric exchanged between the two leaders, revives hope that Kim may be open to de-escalation. Toby Dalton and Ariel Levite recommend...

Japan Times: Japan and Fourth Industrial Revolution

Heizo Takenaka April 2, 2018
Big data, artificial intelligence and robotics are revolutionizing business, both increasing efficiency and reducing labor requirements. Japan, the world’s third largest economy, confronts two challenges, slow government response for labor and other reforms and the need for stronger corporate governance, explains Heizo Takenaka, a former fiscal policy minister for the country. Japan also has two...

The New Yorker: Why Kim Went to China

Evan Osnos April 1, 2018
Under the helm of Kim Jong Un, who took control of the country in 2012, North Korea has spent years testing and pushing the boundaries of international diplomacy while expanding nuclear production and scheduling nuclear testing. US President Donald Trump heightened tension when he promised to respond to any aggression with “fire and fury.” Yet, at the turn of the new year, both leaders turned the...