Perspectives

The KED View
Vietnam’s rise: An ominous sign for Korean chipmakers
Just a few years back, it was Taiwan that was on everyone’s lips in the semiconductor industry.The small East Asian island country, home to the world’s top foundry player TSMC, has for years been a global base for manufacturing chips fou
Feb 16, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Perspectives
Biden must ensure US allies aren’t China collateral damage
The biggest irony about China-US relations today is just how much Xi Jinping misses Donald Trump. China’s leader would never admit this. Nor di...
Feb 15, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Perspectives
Korea’s nuclear power: Ample export opportunities ahead
The recent energy crisis dealt a particularly hard blow to Europe given its heavy dependency on Russian gas. The world was once again awakened to the...
Jan 30, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Perspectives
Elon Musk’s vision for Korean innovation isn’t crazy
For a “genius,” Elon Musk sure does say lots of mindless things. Yet on any list of the least crazy ideas from the Tesla founder, his take...
Jan 15, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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The KED View
No holds barred: State support for Samsung, SK Hynix, Hyundai Motor
It couldn’t come at a worse time.South Korea’s exports are set for a 4.5% decline in 2023. So believes the Yoon Suk-yeol government.The g...
Jan 03, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Economy
Italian envoy to Korea says what works in Korea works globally
Italian Ambassador to South Korea Federico Failla said that as both Italy and Korea cherish and prioritize the importance of tradition and innovation...
Dec 26, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Memo from Howard Marks
Sea Change
sea change (idiom): a complete transformation, a radical change of direction in attitude, goals . . . (Grammarist) In my 53 years in the investmen...
Dec 16, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Perspectives
China’s COVID reopening poses risks and opportunities
News that Beijing is finally scrapping its growth-killing “zero COVID” policy seems the equivalent of answered prayers for Asia. And it co...
Dec 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Memo from Howard Marks
What Really Matters?
I’ve gathered a few ideas from several of my memos this year – plus some recent musings and conversations – to form the subject o...
Dec 05, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Perspectives
Why the global economy needs BOK’s Rhee to stand firm
Rhee Chang-yong could be excused for never wanting to hear the word 'Legoland' again.The Bank of Korea governor spent the first six months of his tenu...
Nov 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Perspectives
Yoon courts lost decade for Korean women
People can debate what it means for the government of a top-12 economy to be “anti-feminist.” There is no question, though, that President...
Oct 14, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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The KED View
Superpowers without dignity as China-US tensions grow
“The greatest danger that can befall us in coping with this problem of Soviet Communism is that we allow ourselves to become like those with wh...
Oct 07, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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The KED View
Was South Korea’s FX intervention too late?
The South Korean won on Sept. 14 opened 1.4% lower in the domestic currency session after shocking US inflation data rattled global financial markets...
Sep 21, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Memo from Howard Marks
The illusion of knowledge
I’ve been expressing my disregard for forecasts for almost as long as I’ve been writing my memos, starting with The Value of Prediction...
Sep 21, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Perspectives
South Korea’s uncomfortable place between US and China
South Korea has long known what it feels like to be “sandwiched.” This was how Samsung’s Lee Kun Hee in 2007 described the economy&r...
Sep 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Memo from Howard Marks
Conversation at Panmure House
I recently was asked by Patrick Schotanus of Edinburgh Business School to participate in their inaugural symposium on the subject of cognitive econ...
Aug 23, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Perspectives
Yoon’s ‘reform’ program is already sputtering
As Yoon Suk-yeol’s presidency hits an early rough patch, it’s hard not to view his troubles through the lens of Japan’s Shinzo Abe....
Aug 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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The KED View
Four chip alliance: S.Korea's courage to overcome Chinaphobia
“I'm gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”Ahn Cheol-soo, a senior lawmaker of South Korea’s ruling People Power Party, ci...
Aug 09, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Memo from Howard Marks
I Beg to Differ
I Beg to Differ I’ve written many times about having joined the investment industry in 1969, when the “Nifty Fifty” stocks were i...
Jul 27, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Perspectives
Yen’s plunge raising blood pressures in Asia
Episodes of extreme yen weakness don’t tend to go well for Asia. In the late 1990s, early 2010s and today, a sliding yen often proves to be even...
Jul 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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The KED View
The case for improved Seoul-Tokyo relations
Unlike the West or China, which showed vastly different reactions, most South Koreans had a more complicated initial response to the news of former ...
Jul 12, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean games
Krafton founder: Robotics, deep learning should be S.Korea’s future
Krafton Inc. founder and chairman Chang Byung-gyu is a rare example of a serial entrepreneur in South Korea – a country dominated by family-own...
Jul 05, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Translink: Startup fundraising barely affected by economic downturn
Venture capital, or the business of investing in innovative private companies with growth potential, is a local endeavor most of the time.While this ...
Jun 26, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean chipmakers
Ex-Samsung exec says Korea chip sector needs more support
South Korea’s semiconductor sector needs more support from the government not only to compete against global rivals backed by their own governm...
Jun 22, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Perspectives
Korea’s new central bank head could be a game changer
Rhee Chang-yong has made a big splash in less than two months as the Bank of Korea governor and I’m not the least bit surprised. Over the last d...
Jun 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Memo from Howard Marks
Bull market rhymes
Bull market rhymes While I employ a great many adages and quotes in my writings, my main go-to list consists of a relatively small number. One of m...
May 30, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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The KED View
Terra debacle: For whom the blockchain bell tolls
In capitalism and the market economy, one’s monetary compensation is measured by his or her degree of contribution to improving the lives of ot...
May 27, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean chipmakers
Korea may be backpedaling in semiconductor push: Lawmaker
A sudden surge in demand for semiconductors post-pandemic, coupled with a prolonged chip shortage, has forced policymakers worldwide to revisit polic...
May 20, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Business & Politics
Seoul, Washington to bolster small nuclear reactor tech alliance
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will meet with his US counterpart President Joe Biden this Saturday for a summit meeting in Seoul. The two leade...
May 19, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Economy
Weakening won: A double-edged sword for the Korean economy
A weakening won is usually a bonus for the South Korean economy as it strengthens the export-dependent country’s price competitiveness in overs...
May 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
4 Min readlanguage
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