• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.157-177
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• 2017

World Trade Organization(WTO) has 164 members since it has established on 1995. It plays a significant role in solving the world trade disputes. The process of the dispute settlement mechanism includes five steps: Negotiation, Establishment of experts group, Deliberation of appellate body, Execution and Supervision of Verdict and the Sanctions for Default. It suggested that the higher rate of developed countries using mechanism to solving the disputes than developing countries solving disputes by mechanism through the analysis of dispute of WTO members. Meanwhile, the more powerful economic entity is, the more trade dispute will be. There are several problems of mechanism by analysis the recently famous cases of trade disputes: Overburden of experts panel, Low utilization rate of the mechanism of developing countries, Lack of economic competition policy and labor standard terms and Unfulfillment of retaliatory measures of developing countries towards developed countries. This paper propose proper solutions and advises to improve mechanism of WTO dispute settlement.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.177-189
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• 2020

The dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is in great peril. The Appellate Body has ceased to function last December as the United States has blocked the appointment of new Appellate Body members since 2017. The focus of this study is on the examination of US's discontent on the Appellate Body and various efforts to reform the Appellate Body. In a recent report, the US Trade Representative raises its concerns on the Appellate Body including 90 days mandatory deadline, transitional rules for outgoing Appellate Body members, scope of appeal, advisory opinions, precedent, recommendation, and overreach without offering any viable solutions. Some of WTO members and experts proposed several Appellate Body reform measures but agreement between WTO members is unlikely in a foreseeable future. Alternative dispute settlement mechanisms should be seriously considered such as interim appeal arbitration arrangements, separate dispute settlement mechanisms for trade remedies, unilateral retaliatory measures without WTO authorization. Rules-based multilateral dispute settlement system is imperative to small open economies like Korea. The Korean government should actively participate in Appellate Body reform discussions with other WTO members to keep the WTO dispute settlement system from collapsing.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.618-642
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• 2009

Currently the nations which join the WTO shall observe understanding on rules and procedures governing the settlement of disputes in WTO agreement. In addition this agreement provides it will be able to apply dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO. Korea and the United States are accomplishing an important role as the core members of the WTO. Regardless of this, The Korea - US FTA is providing a separate dispute settlement system. This paper pursues a comparative analysis concerning rules and procedures of dispute settlement between The Korea - US FTA and the WTO, and furthermore derives problems from the viewpoint of effectiveness, and suggests alternatives and implications in view of trade policy. I hope this study contributes to setting-up and development of national trade policy and is applied to FTA negotiation hereafter.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.273-288
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• 2022

This study first classifies and organizes provisions on institutional arrangements (or IAs) and dispute settlement mechanism(or DSM) in a digital trade agreement. Then it conducts a case study on seven major digital trade agreements: the CPTPP, the USJDTA, the USMCA, the ASDEA, the RCEP, the KSDPA, and the DEPA. And it finally derives implications for Korea to improve implementation of DTAs by communicating better and resolving disputes efficiently with the help of IAs and DSM-related provisions. IAs of a digital trade agreement can be defined as a set of agreements on the division of the respective responsibilities of agencies involved in implementing and enforcing the agreement, including committees, working groups, or contact points. DSM of a digital trade agreement includes consultation, mediation, arbitration, and establishment of a panel. Comparing six FTAs with an e-commerce chapter, the CPTPP, the USMCA, and the RCEP contain the most advanced type of IA provisions while the CPTPP, the USMCA, the RCEP, and the KSDPA have that of DSM provisions. Korea is its initial stage as it has only signed the KSDPA with Singapore as well as it is about to launch a new digital trade negotiation for the DEPA, the CPTPP, and even the IPEF, it is necessary to engage in negotiations with a clearer position on behalf of Korean digital companies. As provisions on IAs and DSM are important policy tools that can reflect industry concerns and convey proposals in inter-governmental dialogue, a Korean draft of the IAs and DSM-related provision should be prepared in advance.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.3-21
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• 2018

The WTO was established in 1995 as an organization which protects and promotes free trade among its members. However, since about this time they have signed many bilateral and multilateral FTAs and joined many other new international agreements and organizations, the purpose of which at times overlaps with that of the WTO. Some existing works on international organizations contend that these FTAs and many other IOs could weaken the role of the WTO as a promoter of free trade. However, the results of regression analyses on the use of the WTO do not support this argument, but show that the experiences of WTO members in these FTAs and many other IOs help them to use its dispute settlement mechanism more frequently

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.3-32
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• 2007

This age is called the age of global trade, and the World Trade Organization is a forerunner in promoting the global free trade through multilateral negotiations as the global level. On the other hand, regional economic cooperation such as North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA) is appearing, saying that promotion by WTO takes too much time. As is known to everybody, Europe is on the way of integrating member states through EU not to mention economic cooperation. Even in Asia such tendency is shown through ASEAN, Korea, China and Japan in Northeast Asia share geographical proximity, many common historical experiences, and similar cultural norms and values although they have disparities in stages of development, trade and economic policies, and financial and legal frameworks. Under the situation, efforts have been made between three countries of Korea, China and Japan for the conclusion of investment agreements including FTA. If the conclusion of the FTA between the three countries would be realized, it would promote regional trade and investment, contributing to economic growth in the Northeast Asian region. The writer in this paper reviewed the settlement of private commercial dispute including investment dispute arising from the FTA and investment agreements. The investment dispute is quite different from an ordinary commercial dispute arising from commercial transactions in view of disputing parties, applicable laws and rules, etc. Therefore it is a problem of vital importance that the parties interested in investment under the FTA as well as the relevant investment agreement should understand and cope with the settlement mechanism of investment disputes arising therefrom. The ICSID Convention provides facilities for the conciliation and arbitration of disputes between member countries and investors who qualify as nationals of other member countries. All contracting states of the ICSID Convention are required by the Convention to recognize and enforce the ICSID arbitral awards. The New York Convention(formally called "United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards") is also applicable for the enforcement of arbitral awards to be rendered under the FTA. As to applicable rules, the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules may be required for the settlement of investment disputes under the FTA. This Rules has adopted by the internationally recognized arbitral organizations although it was developed primarily for use in ad hoc arbitration. The promotion of arbitral cooperation may be realized through agreements between arbitral institutions. Especially under the NAPTA system, a central common system was established to resolve jointly private commercial disputes arising from such free trades by the initiative of arbitral organizations among the member countries. It is called Commercial Arbitration and Mediation Center for the Americas(CAMCA), which may be a good example for the settlement promotion of the private commercial disputes between Korea and other relevant countries.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.3-46
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• 2004

To realize the spirit of the South-North Joint Declaration of June 15, 2000, the competent authorities of the South and the North of Korea have reached two Agreements to settle commercial disputes as well as to set up an arbitral organization called 'South-North Commercial Arbitration Commission'. The Commission is an institutional organization for settlement of commercial disputes arising from trade and investment between south and north Korea. Under the situation, it is becoming a problem of vital importance how to manage and control the Commission for prompt and effective settlement of south-north commercial disputes. While analyzing the above two Agreements for dispute-settlement mechanism, the author proposes desirable ideas and directions in connection with the Commission as follows: 1. First of all, the Commission should become a central common system for settlement of commercial disputes which meets the demand of capitalistic market economy. 2. The Authorities of south and north Korea should recognize that the availability of prompt, effective and economical means of disputes resolution such as arbitration and conciliation to be made by the Commission would promote the orderly growth and encouragement of south-north trade and investment. 3. The Korean Commercial Arbitration Board(KCAB) should be designated as the Arbitration Commission of South Korea because the KCAB is the only authorized institution in South Korea, statutorily empowered to settle any kind of commercial disputes at home and abroad.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.155-187
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• 2017

In the US, the Sections 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 are still being used to resolve disputes. The U.S' such unilateral retaliations grounded on the Sections 301 of the Trade Act, in fact, violate the WTO agreements and hinder the development of international trade as the trade partner may assume it as a reprisal move impeding the fair settlement of disputes. Here, this study is going to examine the characteristics and functions of the WTO dispute settlement system briefly and compare the countermeasures recognized to be legitimate by the WTO with the U.S' unilateral retaliation. Also, this author will analyse the US-Japan Automobiles (DS6) and EC-Bananas III (DS27) as one of the typical cases resulted from the unilateral retaliation. According to the result, these cases do not conform to WTO-consistency, and it implies that it is absurd to accept the US' unilateral retaliation internationally. In conclusion, presently, it is a global trend to solidify protectionism, and to vitalize trade and resolve trade disputes efficiently, it is needed to prohibit the recourse to unilateral retaliations and also positively apply the WTO dispute settlement system(DSU) defining rules about how to strengthen the multilateral system.

• Current Industrial and Technological Trends in Aerospace
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.11-21
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• 2008

This paper focuses on finding the way of aerospace industry promotion in Korea compatible with fair trade system under international rules by considering and analysing the WTO subsidy rules and WTO dispute settlement cases. As for subsidy rules in WTO, the paper deals with two matters such as financial contribution and benefit and further studies provisions on the prohibited subsidies and actionable subsidies. And as for the dispute settlement matters, it reviews the Brazil-Canada case and the US-EC case on civil aircraft export subsidies. While aerospace industry in Korea is not yet internationally competitive still requiring government's continuous supports, it must not be in conflict with subsidy rules under WTO mechanism. This paper makes several suggestions to meet these conditions.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.3-49
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• 2006

The purpose of this paper is to make research on the settlement mechanism of the commercial disputes between the South and the North of Korea. Also, this paper is to make research on the south-north Korea's cooperative tasks to promote the disputes settlement, including the operation and management of the South-North Arbitration Commission as well as the enactment of the South-North Arbitration Rules. To realize the spirit of the South-North Joint Declaration of June 15, 2000, the Authorities concerned of the South and the North of Korea have reached an agreement titled 'Agreement on Settlement Procedure of Commercial Disputes' on December of the same year. As the follow-up measures of the said Agreement, the South-North Authorities have signed an another agreement called 'Agreement on Organization and Administration of the South-North Arbitration Commission' on October, 2003, which is becoming vital importance for settlement of the commercial disputes between south and north Korea including the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. Gaeseong, a city surrounded by the North Korean military and a symbol of inter-Korean tensions, is now turning into a peace zone where thousands of North and South Koreans are working side by side. The Gaeseong Industrial Complex project, driven by the logic and economic necessity of cooperation, has been steadily moving forward since the North designated it as a special economic zone and has enacted related laws and regulations for its development. Under the situation, the matter of primary concern is how to organize and conduct the Arbitration Commission for the prompt and effective settlement of the south-north commercial disputes. First of all, the South-North Authorities should recognize that the availability of prompt, effective and economical means of dispute resolution such as arbitration and mediation to be made by the Arbitration Commission would promote the orderly growth and encouragement of the south-north trade and investment. In this connection, the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board(KCAB) should be designated as the arbitral institution of the south Korean side under the Agreement on Organization and Administration of the South-North Arbitration Commission. The KCAB is the only authorized arbitral organization in South Korea to settle all kinds of commercial disputes at home and abroad.