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Issues in Korean Trade 1999:
This paper is a survey of some of the important issues in Korean trade during 1999. 1999 was an important year in Korean trade for several reasons. In 1999, Korea began its recovery from the Asian Financial Crisis, with its GDP..
Junsok Yang et al. Date 2000.04.25
Trade policyDownloadContentSummaryThis paper is a survey of some of the important issues in Korean trade during 1999. 1999 was an important year in Korean trade for several reasons. In 1999, Korea began its recovery from the Asian Financial Crisis, with its GDP growing by more than 10%. Much of the growth, especially in the latter half of the year, was due to a healthy export sector. Korea's exports to all major regions rose greatly. Korea's imports also rose greatly, but imports from some regions, such as Asia and North America, grew more quickly than imports from other regions such as Europe. The growth in exports was driven by such goods as semiconductors and automobiles. On the import side, the growth of imports was driven by increases in the import of capital goods due to Korea's recovery from the Financial Crisis and the recession which followed.
Such growth in exports could not help but generate trade disputes between Korea and its trading partners, most notably the United States. While the bilateral trade disputes were not as serious as they had been in the 1980s, there were some notable issues in 1999, particularly with regard to steel, semi-conductors, pharmaceuticals, and movies.
While many of these trade dispute issues were being dealt with bilaterally, between Korea and various complainant countries, the world was rapidly moving toward establishing a common multilateral rules on trade, and 1999 was an important year in the multilateral trade arena as well. On November 30 1999, the WTO Ministerial Conference was held in Seattle. The Conference was to signal the beginning of a New Round of trade negotiations designed to liberalize trade, as well as introduce multilateral rules with respect to several 'New Issues'. However, because of disagreements among member countries, the negotiations were 'suspended,' and except for certain 'built-in agenda' issues, the negotiations will not resume until the members can attain a wider agreement on various issues concerning the New Round negotiations.
Korea submitted 12 official position papers to the WTO on various topics concerning the New Round. These topics include agriculture, services, the anti-dumping agreement, market access for industrial goods, trade and investment, trade and competition policy, and transparency in government procurement. -
Guide to the Uruguay Round Agreements
This study seeks to correct the general public's perception of the Uruguay Round Agreement to promote awareness of its benefits through concrete examples. Furthermore, by explaining issues disputed in the Uruguay Round this book a..
Euisoo Kim Date 2000.04.10
Multilateral negotiationsDownloadContentSummaryThis study seeks to correct the general public's perception of the Uruguay Round Agreement to promote awareness of its benefits through concrete examples. Furthermore, by explaining issues disputed in the Uruguay Round this book attempts to enhance public interest and understanding on the Uruguay Round. -
Korean Plan for Strengthening Competitiveness for the 21st century
The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy organized a policy forum on 'Korean Plan for Strengthening Competitiveness for the 21st century' with the support of Korean Ministry of Finance.The purpose of this forum was to..
Yunjong Wang ed. Date 2000.02.01
Economic developmentDownloadContentSummaryThe Korea Institute for International Economic Policy organized a policy forum on 'Korean Plan for Strengthening Competitiveness for the 21st century' with the support of Korean Ministry of Finance.
The purpose of this forum was to analyze the problems of global competitiveness and its implication. In addition, it provided a forum for discussions on Korea's plans for strengthening competitiveness in the digital sector. These proceedings are a collection of the lectures, papers and formal comments made by the speakers and discussants. -
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A New Strategy for Northeast Asian Economic Cooperation: Investment Cooperation
As the world moves rapidly towards globalization in the 1990s, the movement towards economic cooperation in the Northeast Asian Region steadily gains momentum. Although interest in economic cooperation in the Northeast Asia Region..
Seong-Bong Lee ed al. Date 1999.12.30
Economic cooperationDownloadContentSummaryAs the world moves rapidly towards globalization in the 1990s, the movement towards economic cooperation in the Northeast Asian Region steadily gains momentum. Although interest in economic cooperation in the Northeast Asia Region has been elevated due to the rapid progress of regionalism in the world economy, political instability and security issues in the region have impeded the progress of the movement towards actually achieving economic integration on the same level as, and similar to either the EU or NAFTA. However, since the attitude of the Northeast Asian Countries has changed since the coming of the Asian Financial Crisis, it has become necessary to develop a framework for Northeast Asian Economic Cooperation.
This paper searched for economic cooperation strategies with a focus on Investment Cooperation among the Northeast Asian Countries in the context of Economic Cooperation issues.
The first priority of Investment Cooperation in NEA is to enhance intra-regional investment between Korea, China and Japan. Differing from other regional characteristic, of the NEA investment relation, is that a one-way flow has dominated investment. Japan has unilateral relationships with both Korea and China, and Korea's FDI relationship with China is also unilateral. The core issue of the facilitation of intra-regional investment will be to develop a production specialization in the region. This could be realized through transfer of an industry which lost comparative advantages, from Japan to Korea and China, or from Korea to China.
Another objective of Investment Cooperation in NEA is to establish the Northeast Asian Investment Area. With the prospect of NEA economic integration lurking in the future, a cooperative approach towards FDI inducement into NEA will have long lasting individual and common consequences. The concept of the Northeast Asian Investment Area can be designated as the development of a regional production network by multinational corporations.
The third objective of Investment Cooperation in NEA is to develop a framework for the common utilization of resources. A representative example would be a joint investment project involving the construction of intra-regional infrastructure.
Coordinated policy measure need to be develop to enable enhanced investment cooperation in Northeast Asia. Each of the Northeast Asian countries has already adopted many domestic policy measures to support overseas investment as well as to encourage foreign direct investment. By using these measures as a foundation, we may then develop policies along regional lines with regards to investment cooperation. Possible policy measures may include: 1) information and technical support, 2) financial assistance, 3) investment protection, 4) deregulation, and 5) investment incentives.
The policy measures for investment cooperation in NEA may be grouped into short, middle and long-term strategies. The short term(by the year 2000) strategies may include construction of the Northeast Asian Investment Information Network, expanding upon financial support mechanism and further developing protection for investment projects consistent with the objectives of investment cooperation in NEA.
As midterm(by the year 2005) strategies, we suggested drawing up the NEA Investment Protection Agreement, reviewing the current domestic investment barriers as a starting point for investment liberalization in NEA and establishing the NEA Investment Fund to support investment within the region.
The long term (by the year 2010) strategies may include concluding the NEA Investment Cooperation Agreement, which provides 3-party joint incentives to investment projects, establishing the NEA Development Bank and setting up the principles of the NEA Framework on Investment, which assumes a free investment area of NEA. In the long run, the Treaty will be incorporated within the Framework Agreement on ASEAN Investment Area(AIA) to be developed into the East Asia Framework on Investment. -
The Overseas Chinese Economy in Esat Asia and Exploit its Capital
The role and importance of overseas Chinese capitals have attracted more attention in the regional and world business circles since the overall economy in the East Asia has made a remarkable progress and China's economy has rapidl..
Soo Woong Choi et al. Date 1999.12.30
Economic cooperationDownloadContentSummaryThe role and importance of overseas Chinese capitals have attracted more attention in the regional and world business circles since the overall economy in the East Asia has made a remarkable progress and China's economy has rapidly developed in recent years. Especially, the economies in China, Hongkong and Taiwan have attracted even a keener attention as they were able to maintain their traditional stance during the recent Asian economic crisis, which inflicted a sever damage to all the other Asian economies.
Overseas Chinese capitals have steadily grown by positively encountering the ever-changing economic surroundings based on their social, cultural and historical backgrounds. According to their traditional orientation toward safety, they have grown into large business groups through investments focused on real estate and financing business. However, to comply with the recent changes in external economic conditions and internal management environment the pursue diversification of their business lines.
Under these circumstances, Korean business companies should consider the possibility of utilizing the widespread network of business connections and the ability of raising funds on their counterpart overseas Chinese capital.
The best candidates for strategic business alliance with overseas Chinese capital could be selected among the following business lines. First of all, the financing businesses will be able to contribute to Korean Financial businesses, currently under a comprehensive and extensive reorganization. Especially, strategic alliance with overseas Chinese capital in financing business lines will contribute to the successful restructuring of Korean financing sector.
The second candidate will be real estate development business. In the past, the overseas Chinese capital invested in cheap land where they built houses and small towns for immediate profit. In recent years, however, they have switched to long-term investment in social infrastructure. They have actively participated in large-scale construction projects in China. The Korean companies will have more opportunities in entering the Chinese construction market under a consortium with the overseas Chinese capital.
The third promising area for collaboration is the IT industry. Considering the IT industry has a very strong growth potential, Korean companies should do feasibility study for strategic business alliance with overseas Chinese capital. Most of all, it would be quite feasible for us to participate in wire and wireless telecommunications projects in China by forming a consortium with the overseas Chinese capital. Especially, When our technical experiences are coupled with ample funding capacities of the overseas Chinese capital, we could accomplish bigger economic achievement.
As mentioned above, the strategic business alliance with overseas Chinese capital such as Hongkong, Taiwan and Southeast Asian's Chinese capital, will be a effective method to enter Chinese market. -
Adjustment Reforms in Korea since the Financial Crisis II
Two years have passed since the Korean government agreed on the structural adjustment program with the IMF on December 3, 1997. As a sequel to 'Adjstment Reforms in Korea since the Financial Crisis: Volume I,' this volume analyzes..
Sang-In Hwang et al. Date 1999.12.30
Financial crisis, Financial policyDownloadContentSummaryTwo years have passed since the Korean government agreed on the structural adjustment program with the IMF on December 3, 1997. As a sequel to 'Adjstment Reforms in Korea since the Financial Crisis: Volume I,' this volume analyzes the road which the Korean economy has followed, during the past two years, on the basis of the IMF Letters of Intent, from the second half of 1998 to the end of 1999. However, our efforts are not merely record keeping. We explore the future policy direction in which the Korean economy should move forward by thoroughly evaluating the policy measures actually employed under the IMF program.
The policy consultations with the international financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, were extremely valuable to the containment of the crisis and to the improvement of economic fundamentals. However, it should not be overlooked that the Korean government sustained its ownership of the program since the 6th letter of intent in May, 1998. The Korean government clearly recognized the currency crisis stemmed, in large part, from the structural problems, whether government-induced or not, which were not on par with market disciplines. In this regard, the Korean government made serious efforts to revamp the Korean economy and to recover the soundness of the economic fundamentals.
In the new millennium, we should not allow the recurrence of economic crisis. We have already paid too high a cost in lessons learned from the crisis. However, we still have many grave challenges to cope with. While Korea's sovereign credit rating has been upgraded beyond the investment grade, private commercial banks still remain below that level. The potentially damaging assets of the investment and trust companies were not sufficiently cleaned up. In conclusion, Koreans should not give in to any sense of euphoria or self-complacency, again, the reforms are not yet complete. Rather, they should look into ways through which the economic participants - consumers, producers, businesses, labor, and the government - can come together to create the very foundation of a more dynamic and competitive economic system. Thus far, the Korean people and the government have demonstrated that they are serious about economic reform. Koreans should take this one step further and find ways to advance to the level of an advanced economy. -
A New Strategy for Northeast Asian Economic Cooperation
A New Strategy for Northeast Asian Economic CooperationThis study proposes the formation of the Northeast Asian Economic Cooperation Council to discuss comprehensive economic cooperation and major economic issues between Korea, Ja..
Chang-Jae Lee et al. Date 1999.12.30
Economic cooperationDownloadContentSummaryA New Strategy for Northeast Asian Economic Cooperation
This study proposes the formation of the Northeast Asian Economic Cooperation Council to discuss comprehensive economic cooperation and major economic issues between Korea, Japan and China.
In order to meet the challenge of rising regionalism, it is imperative that the central governments of the region involve themselves more actively in Northeast Asian Economic Cooperation. Given the diversity of Northeast Asian countries, it seems to be more realistic to begin with the central governments of the three major countries in terms of economic size.
However, even among these three countries, the prospects for reaching a regional trade agreement such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), let alone a more advanced economic integration type like the EU, are quite dim in the foreseeable future. Thus, Korea, Japan and China must try to gain as many benefits of economic integration as possible through the formation of a regional economic cooperation body.
Some people might argue the usefulness of the Council, because basically it does not go beyond APEC where all three countries are already members. Indeed, this Council would not produce any legally binding decisions. Rather, it would be a loose economic cooperation entity like APEC, or even a more informal forum than APEC. However, unlike APEC, which has 21 members and covers diverse geographic areas, it can function more effectively concentrating on the regional issues that all three countries are interested in. In this sense, the Council will play a supplementary role to APEC.
It seems to be appropriate that the Korean government propose the formation of the Council. Among the three countries, Korea is positioned in the intermediate position both in terms of geography and economic development. Moreover, unlike Japan and China, nobody would suspect that Korea might seek hegemony in the region.
Prior to the launching of the Council, it is necessary to develop an awareness of the need for, as well as a consensus with regard to the establishment of, the Council. In order to attain these goals, a joint study conducted by the research institutes of the three countries, on Northeast Asian Economic Cooperation, seems to be in order. -
Exchange Rate Regimes in emerging Market Economies
The type of exchange rate regime in emerging economies has been at the center of economic debate since the Asian crisis. The choice of exchange rate regime has been regarded as critical for emerging economies to achieve sustainabl..
Yung Chul Park et al. Date 1999.12.30
Exchange rateDownloadContentSummaryThe type of exchange rate regime in emerging economies has been at the center of economic debate since the Asian crisis. The choice of exchange rate regime has been regarded as critical for emerging economies to achieve sustainable economic growth, and also has important implications for the world economy. In principle, the most appropriate regime for any given economy may differ, depending on the particular economic circumstances, such as the degree of integration into the world economy. Since economic circumstances vary over time, the most appropriate regime for any given country may also change over time.