Korea’s Recent Export to Vietnam and Implications (KIEP)

In 2015, while Korea’s total exports were sluggish mainly due to weak global demand, its exports to Vietnam have increased rapidly, and Vietnam emerged as Korea’s top 3rd export destination. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, Korean investors took advantage of Vietnam's low-wage in labor-intensive industry. From the mid 2000s, they started to shift their focus from labor-intensive to capital and technology-intensive industries. This has been driven by massive investment by SEC (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd) in mobile phone manufacturing. The strategic investment by SEC is transforming Vietnams’ industrial structure from labor-intensive to technology-intensive, and has put Vietnam on the top of the list of world's mobile phone producing countries. With Korea-Vietnam FTA ratified in 2015, and the year 2016 will offer new opportunities to promote cooperation between Korea and Vietnam. Future bilateral economic cooperation should not simply stop at demanding higher liberalization levels, but support building a production network that promotes a ‘win-win’ cooperative relationship for mutual benefits.

http://www.kiep.go.kr/eng/sub/mainview.do?bbsId=worldEcoUdt&nttId=188228

Private Sector Development and Korea-Africa Development Cooperation (KIEP)

Although Africa has witnessed outstanding economic performance, poverty remains prevalent because economic growth has not been translated into more jobs and higher income. Still trapped within the confines of a mono-cultural economy, Africa's dependency on a limited inventory of primary goods and its retreat into de-industrialization hinders it from escaping the poverty trap. With the shifting paradigm of development cooperation from a public sector led development to private sector development, the development of Africa's private sector is considered crucial in translating economic growth into inclusive growth. However, Africa's private sector faces many challenges including the accessibility of SMEs to government services, large size of the informal sector and excessive regulations.
Analysis of a wide spectrum of variables through a cross-sectional model to identify areas that increase the effects of private sector development and their degree of efficacy shows that small business ownership is the most important factor that affects both income and employment. Other variables such as technological readiness, market size and concentration of rent had an impact on income while improvements in higher education and training, labor market efficiency and primary education had an impact on employment.
With reference to the PSD policies of the UK, US and Germany and in consideration of Korea's development experiences and handicaps four areas are considered as a priority for PSD cooperation with Africa: entrepreneurial support, construction of industrial complexes, human resource development and agricultural development.

http://www.kiep.go.kr/eng/sub/mainview.do?bbsId=worldEcoUdt&nttId=188158

(Korea) Amid 'Quasi State of War,' North, South Korea Hold First High-Level Talks in a Year (Shannon Tiezzi, The Diplomat)

http://thediplomat.com/2015/08/amid-quasi-state-of-war-north-south-korea-hold-first-high-level-talks-in-a-year/

(Istituto fondamentale - Korea) Korean Peninsula: Choice between Peace and Escalation (Alexander Vorontsov, Strategic Culture Foundation)

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/07/07/korean-peninsula-choice-between-peace-and-escalation.html