• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.409-431
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• 2012

This article deals with the nature of ISDS along with the admissibility thereof, for the settlement of investment disputes between states and nationals of other states. ICSID as an organization of World Bank Group, has been established in 1966 and as of May in 2011, 157 nations ratified its convention. As for the Republic of Korea(ROK) it has been involved in the problematic situation with regard to ISDS of the KORUS FTA in negotiation with the United States. The ruling Grand National Party is pushing the FTA for ratification including ISDS. However, the opposition party, the Unified Democratic Party rejected the ISDS with a view to a toxin infringing on its judiciary sovereignty. The ROK has invested in the US 3.5 times more than the US did in Korea up to now. As a result, it seems that the ROK is more concerned about ISDS than the US is, considering that exhausting local remedy through the US local courts, applying even a municipal ordinance in their decisions which will be unsatisfactory toward the ROK side. The ROK is now struggling with the ISDS as a political issue between the ruling party and the opposition party mostly based on sovereignty with a reference on AUSFTA which excluded the ISDS. Australian model about ISDS has been impacted by the experience from the NAFTA which allowes direct claims against each other(the US against Canada and Canada against the US). It seems not to be much sympathy for developed countries because it has long been held to standards for pressing on developing countries. Australia is also struggling with ISDS from the political point of view likewise the ROK. And the ISDS is destined to the political situations established within the domestic countries among the political parties in relation with the acceptance or rejection of thereof.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.832-847
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• 2014

The main aim of this paper is to contribute to building some strategic foundations for future Korean foreign investors in Cambodia by investigating trends and institutional changes in inward foreign direct investment and working conditions in Cambodia. Rapid increase in labor costs, and investment incentives centering on high-tech industries in China and Vietnam has led to the relocation of labor-intensive industries into low wage countries since the early 2000. As a result, Cambodia has emerged as a new alternative investment region in which enable to off-set existing locational and institutional advantages, so that it has implicated in changes in Asian economic geographies. In addition, the Cambodian government has operated two labor relations projects - Better Factory Cambodia and Labor Dispute Resolution Project - with ILO to improve the working conditions of foreign investment firms. These projects could provide an insight into constructing strategies for foreign investment, and also imply institutional embeddedness in Cambodia.