• Journal of Korea Trade
• /
• v.23 no.7
• /
• pp.83-95
• /
• 2019

Purpose - This study analyzed the effect of the Trump Government's protectionist trade policies on foreign ownership. Specifically, this study empirically analyzes the hypothesis that foreign ownership will decrease after the Trump Government rather than before the Trump Government. Design/methodology - The hypothesis of this study is based on the expectation that US protection trade policy will negatively affect the profitability of Korean companies. The dependent variable in this study is the foreign ownership ratio, and the independent variable is a dummy variable representing before and after the Trump Government. Multiple regression analysis was performed, including the control variables suggested in previous studies related to foreign ownership. Findings - As a result, foreign ownership increased after the Trump Government rather than before the Trump Government. This study further analyzes whether the main variables affecting foreign investor's decision-making are differences before and after Trump Government. The export ratio, profitability and dividends did not differ before and after Trump Government. However, the level of information asymmetry decreased after the Trump Government than before the Trump Government. This suggests that US protection trade policies do not adversely affect the profitability of Korean companies. However, Korean firms are improving their information environment because US protectionist trade policies can lower profitability and negatively impact capital raising. In this regard, the foreign ownership ratio seems to differ before and after the Trump Government. Originality/value - This study contributes in that it presents data that US protectionist policies can affect Korean corporate governance. This study has implications from the short-term analysis of US protection trade policy.

• East Asian Economic Review
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.29-54
• /
• 2018

Using the indicators of economic policy uncertainty developed by Baker et al. (2016), this paper investigates the effects of the US economic policy uncertainty on the Korea economic uncertainty as well as Korea-US foreign exchange risk. The key findings are that: (i) the degree of spillovers of policy uncertainty from the US to Korea is considerable but not comparatively high; (ii) the US policy uncertainty plays a stronger and more consistent role in Korean currency risk than Korea policy uncertainty and other macro variables. It implies that the economic policy uncertainty in the US is an important contributor to Korea-US exchange rates.

• Journal of Public Diplomacy
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.27-45
• /
• 2023

Citizen engagement in public diplomacy efforts has been considered important since its earliest conceptualizations in the 1960s. Since 9/11, the US government has put a strong focus on citizen engagement in promoting positive images of the US, its values and culture, suggesting that these activities would improve foreign publics views of US foreign policy. However, much of the public diplomacy scholarship has primarily focused on the state centric messaging form of public diplomacy to the neglect of interactions and relationships. In recent years, scholars have begun calling for an increased focus on nonstate actors, networks, and relational approaches to public diplomacy. Yet, there is still a strong need for empirical studies into how participants in these kinds of activities perceive them and how they affect their views. This article provides a case study of citizen-led public diplomacy between Libyan and American citizens through Facebook friendship groups and uses Facebook focus group interviews with Libyans to understand how these groups shape their views. The study finds that these kinds of activities are useful in promoting understanding and improved images of Americans and its culture. However, these activities do not improve Libyans views of US foreign policy.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.319-330
• /
• 2023

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the connectedness between categorical economic policy uncertainty (monetary, fiscal, trade and foreign exchange policy uncertainty) indexes and option-implied volatility index in Korea, Japan and the US. Design/methodology/approach - This paper employs the Diebold-Ylmaz (2012) model based on a VAR and generalized forecast error variance decomposition. This paper also conducts regression analyses to investigate whether the volatility indexes are explained by categorical policy uncertainty indexes. Findings - First, we find the total connectedness is stronger in Korea and Japan relative to the US. Second, monetary, fiscal, and foreign exchange policy uncertainty indexes are connected to each other but trade policy uncertainty index is not. Third, the volatility index in Japan and the US is mainly associated with monetary policy uncertainty while the volatility index in Korea is explained by fiscal policy uncertainty index. Research implications or Originality - To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the connectedness among categorical policy uncertainty indexes and the volatility index in Korea, Japan, and the US. The empirical results on the connectedness suggest that transparent policy and communication with the market in one type of policy would reduce the uncertainty in other policies.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.43-78
• /
• 2022

The arena of strategic competition between the US and China is expandable from international politics, trade and commerce to finance. What would happen if financial sanctions against China are imposed by the US? Would US financial sanctions lead to a sudden outflow of foreign capital and a liquidity crisis in China? We try to address these questions by estimating China's capital flows-at-risk with the CDS premium on Chinese sovereign funds. We follow Gelos et al. (2019) in setting up a quantile regression model from which China's foreign capital flow-at-risks are estimated. Based on our analysis of China's monthly capital flow data, we find that a rise in the CDS premium has statistically significant negative impacts on China's foreign capital flows-at-risk, mainly in banking flows. However, the analysis also found that due to favorable global conditions, an increase in the CDS premium is unlikely to trigger a shift to a sudden outflow of foreign capital at the moment. Meanwhile, this study found no statistically significant correlation between Korea's capital flows-at-risk and the CDS premium, suggesting that the negative impact of US financial sanctions on China would not increase the probability of capital flight from Korea in a significant manner.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.327-357
• /
• 2023

Adopting the Tools of Liberalism and Clash of Civilizations theories of international relations, this study examines the perceptions of 25,406 Arabs in 11 Arab countries as expressed in an Arab Barometer survey exploring their perceptions of violence against the United States (US), American citizens as "good," President Donald Trump's foreign policy in the Middle East, increasing economic relations with the US, and welcoming American foreign aid. As aspects of the Clash of Civilizations theory, this study examines religiosity, religious ritual practices, and political Islam and, as aspects of liberalism, this study explores the roles of online media as well as perceptions about US foreign aid in the prediction of the criterion variables. The findings suggest that religious indicators, and aspects of the Clash of Civilizations generally, were negative predictors of the perceptions, while social media and motivations for US foreign aid as aspects of liberalism, positively predicted the perceptions. The study discusses the results in relation to implications for policy makers.

• International Commerce and Information Review
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.399-422
• /
• 2007

Like in other trade negotiations covering comprehensive sectors, it is reported that KOREA-US FTA tried so-called 'package deal' at the last minutes, when telecom services sector was positioned at the forefront and expected to partly play a role in buffering US' market-opening pressure on other sectors. Before everything else, Korean negotiators had to enhance the value of foreign ownership deregulation in telecom services sector as a leverage in the course of KOREA-US FTA negotiations. In addition, since foreign ownership change, if any, is highly sensitive issue either politically or policy-wise, it seems very difficult to find a breakthrough. Focusing on foreign ownership regulation in telecom services sector, this paper seeks how Korea has developed its strategic reasoning for negotiations and evaluates the outcomes of KOREA-US FTA negotiations.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.5-38
• /
• 2018

A seismic change is under way in diplomatic topography surrounding the Korean Peninsula. A new dynamic is being generated that could lead to a breakthrough in the nuclear stalemate and to an end of hostility between the two Koreas. Moon Administration's bold and creative foreign policy, which is alleged to place South Korea in the "driver's seat", is probably responsible for what is happening on the Korean Peninsula. However, on the other hand, Moon Administration's foreign policy shows a lot of continuity with foreign policy of previous conservative governments. In particular, the Moon government's emphasis on the vitality of the ROK-US alliance and its commitment to close coordination with the US in dealing with nuclear issues of North Korea is the hallmark of the continuity in South Korea's foreign policy. Emphasizing and sharing the notion of the continuities in foreign policy could contribute to social integration by garnering bi-partisan support. It could also spawn sense of stability, predictability, and confidence to diplomatic counterparts in other countries. And it could help avoid the negative effects of expectation-reality gap in the event that the outcome of all the diplomatic endeavor falls short of expectation held by citizens.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.41-70
• /
• 2021

US Northeast Asia Policy will show the following changes and continuities with the transition from the Trump administration to the Biden administration. As the Biden administration adheres to traditional principles and norms of US foreign policy, there will be more stability and predictability. The US-China confrontation is likely to become more serious, as President Biden will continue the hawkish China policy Trump initiated. Regarding North Korea, the Biden administration is expected to adopt a more conservative 'bottom-up' approach rather than a 'grand bargain' that Trump pursued. Due to many policymakers holding deep suspicions about the North Korean regime, any diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea is unlikely to occur soon. As for South Korea and Japan, Biden will show more respect to these key allies but may also demand them to contribute more to US-led initiatives countering China.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.277-296
• /
• 2023

The South Korean ethnic diaspora US lobby shows efficacy as an interest group in generating influence in American foreign and domestic public policy making. The persuasive portrayal of South Korea as a critical Cold War US ally reinforced US amenability to pro-South Korea lobbying. Also, the South Korean US diaspora is a comparatively recent immigrant group, thus its lingering resistance to assimilation facilitates its political mobilization to lobby the US government. One source of this influence includes the foundational legacy of proselytizing Western and particularly American religious social movement representatives in Korean religiosity and society. US protestant Christianity acquired a strong public association with emerging Korean nationalism in response to Japanese imperialism and occupation. Hostility towards Japanese colonialism followed by the threat from Soviet-sponsored, North Korean Communism meant Christianity did not readily become a cultural symbol of excessive external, US interference in South Korean society by South Korean public opinion. The post-Cold War shift in US foreign policy towards targeting so-called rogue state vestiges of the Cold War including North Korea enhanced further South Korea's influence in Washington. Due to essential differences in the perceived historical role of American influence, extrapolation of the South Korean development model is problematic. US hegemony in South Korea indicates that perceived alliance with national self-determination constitutes the core of soft power appeal. Civilizational appeal per se in the form of religious beliefs are not critically significant in promoting American polity influence in target polities in South Korea or, comparatively, in the Middle East. The United States is a perceived opponent of pan-Arab nationalism which has trended towards populist Islamic religious symbolism with the failure of secular nationalism. The pronounced component of evangelical Christianity in American core community nationalism which the Trump campaign exploited is a reflection of this orientation in the US.