• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.131-145
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• 2020

Purpose - The recent growth of South Korean products in the international market is the benchmark for both developed as well as developing countries. According to the development index, the role of international trade is indeed crucial for the development of the national economy. However, the visualization of the international trade profile of the country is the prerequisite of governmental policy decision-makers and guidance for forecasting of foreign trade. Design/methodology - We have utilized data visualization techniques in order to visualize the import & export product space and trade partners of South Korea. Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) were used to identify the Korean international trade diversification, whereas the time series approach is used to forecast the economy and foreign trade variables. Findings - Our results show that Chine, U.S, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Japan are the leading trade partners of Korea. Overall, the ECI of South Korea is growing significantly as compared to China, Hong Kong, and other developed countries of the world. The expected values of total import and export volume of South Korea are approximately US$535.21 and US$ 781.23B, with the balance of trade US$ 254.02B in 2025. It was also observed from our analysis that imports & exports are equally substantial to the GDP of Korea and have a significant correlation with GDP, GDP per capita, and ECI. Originality/value - To maintain the growth rate of international trade and efficient competitor for the trade partners, we have visualized the South Korea trade profile, which provides the information of significant export and import products as well as main trade partners and forecasting.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.141-160
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• 2021

The scale of global FDI has been decreasing since 2016 due to the ongoing US-China trade dispute, the strengthening of FDI inflow screening regulations with concern over strategic technology leaks, and the spread of reshoring trends due to the reinforcement of national preferences. Eventually, the competition to attract FDI between countries is expected to become more intense. Therefore, in order to attract high-quality FDI for Korea that will contribute to the development of the national economy, it is pressing to evaluate and improve the domestic FDI attraction environment. This study aims to analyze which areas of Korea's economic and non-economic environments need improvement for gaining advantage amid the fierce competition to attract FDI between countries, by the relative comparison between Korea and the U.S., and based on the ranking indicated in key FDI attractiveness indices. As a result, improvement is needed in the following areas. First, according to IMD's "World Competitiveness Ranking 2020," Korea was inferior to the US in terms of business efficiency, productivity, finance and business legislation in terms of government efficiency. Second, according to INSEAD's "Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2020," Korea was inferior to the US in terms of internal openness, external openness, employability, lifelong learning, access to growth opportunity, and business and labor landscapes. Third, according to WEF's "Global Competitiveness Index 2019", Korea was inferior to the US in terms of product market, labor market, business dynamism and workforce skills.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.5-11
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• 2013

Purpose - The aim of this work is to study the reorientation that the export industrial sectors in Costa Rica have experienced during the last 20 years. Research design, data, methodology - The study employs the Cluster Analysis with the export data (20 years of cut-off period) from Costa Rica to the U.S-market. To make the predictions, the technique of the time series was used, with official data (from 2001 to 2010) from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission. Results - The Cluster Analysis, show how the economic sectors of traditional products exports of Costa Rica have progressively become in exporters of non-traditional products, meanwhile,the time series confirms that this trend will continue, at least during the next five years. Conclusions - The industry of traditional products exports of Costa Rica (dressmaking, vegetables, coffee, mate, species, etc.) will progressively become in exporters of non- traditional products with a high-tech component (i.e., mechanical equipment and devices, electronic devices and medical equipment),as a consequence of the Chinese (Costa Rica's main competitor) economy's presence in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCDE). This fact has enabled the potential improvement of Costa Rica's international competitiveness in the U.S. market.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.41-66
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• 2016

This paper analyzes the firms value and the business performance before and after Chinese firms got listed in the U.S. First of all, it was separated into term before U.S listed and after listed, and looked whether there was any change in the Tobin'Q. After listed, as time went on Tobin'Q decreased more. In terms of net sales growth rate, it dropped significantly after U.S IPO. Operating profits and net profits rate increased more after being listed in large corporation, but in small corporation cases, it produced an opposite effect on debt ratio and net interest cost. Interest burden continued to fall after being listed in small corporation, and it couldn't find the investment profitability, nor could it utilize ROE, ROI variable. ROE, ROI continued to fall after being listed, but current ratio and quick ratio increased significantly in small corporation. From this results, we can infer that the financial liquidity showed signs of improvement after being listed.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.677-693
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• 2016

Using Social Network Analysis and Trade in Value Added Database(TiVA), this paper examines the world trade network. Main findings are as follows. Firstly, there are three types of industries, which have dominant status in the world value added trade network. Those are the manufacturing industries in the developing countries such as China's electronics industry, the service industries in the developed countries such as U.S. R&D, and the manufacturing industries in the developed countries such as German motor vehicle industry. Secondly, the major hub industries in the world trade network have their own specific types in the brokerage roles. Most interestingly, U.S. service industries such as the R&D, the logistics industry, and the whole sale and retail industry reveal itinerant and liaison brokerage roles. Thirdly, Korean industries have been dominated by Chinese industries. However, the financial industry and the R&D industry could have revealed superior status as the brokerage role of itinerant. This implies Korean industries could sustain their competitiveness of the hubness status only by openness policy in the service industry.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.23-40
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• 2022

Under the global economic system, production activities has formed an international division of labor, which has greatly affected industries in individual countries by global issues such as the U.S-China trade war and neo-protectionism. In particular the risk and change of disconnection of semiconductor value chain caused by COVID-19 are evaluated as offering the crisis and opportunity at the same time to all countries participating in the global electronics industry value chain. Therefore, this study was conducted with the OECD Trade in Value Added(TiVA) based on the time when a detailed analysis of the global chain of the electronic industry is needed. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that the global value chain of the electronics industry is gradually expanding and strengthening, and that various countries are emerging as major actors in the global value chain. It was found that the U.S. and Japan are in charge of relatively high value-added activities, while Korea, Taiwan and China are in charge of low value-added activities, although they are large scale.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.101-118
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• 2020

This study aims to quantify the effects of non-tariff measures (NTMs) on exports in the Korean manufacturing industry. To do this, we employ product-level export data that includes information about whether or not a product is affected by NTMs. One of the main results is that NTMs (SPS/TBT) on average led to reduction in Korean exports. However, the effects of NTMs differed depending on the income level of the NTM-imposing country. The NTMs imposed by high-income countries, such as U.S.A. and Japan, were found to impede Korean exports, whereas the export effect of NTMs imposed by low-income countries such as China was found to not be statistically significant. In addition, the results analyzed based across industries, income level, and types of NTMs are as follows. First, NTMs imposed on textile-related products generally hindered exports regardless of the type of NTMs, but its negative impact on exports was noticeable in the case of NTMs originating from high-income countries. On the other hand, chemical product-related NTMs were found to lead to an increase in Korean exports, and it had a positive effect in the case of SPS imposed by low-income countries. In other industries except for textile- and chemical-related products, the effects of NTMs on exports were either statistically insignificant or showed inconsistent patterns.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.462-473
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• 2008

In recent years, Korea's apparel exports to the USA have faced a great threat, as the trade environment around the world has changed continually. The purpose of this study is to analyze the competitive position of Korean apparel exports to the USA, and to enhance export competitiveness by applying to offshore sourcing. The trade data of the Office of Textiles and Apparel(OTEXA) in the U.S. Department of Commerce were selected for inquiry about export competitiveness of apparel products made in Korea. In addition, we targeted members of the Korea Apparel Industry Association among the 500 exporters of clothing items in "The Import and Export Textile Product 2003." A total 70 sheets were analyzed. The results of this study were as follows: 1) Korean apparel exports to USA have decreased by 20-35 percent per year since 2005 under the Free Trade Area, showing that Korean apparel industries have not adapted to the new trade environment. Although Korean apparel exports to USA have indicated a trade surplus from now on, Korean apparel industries should find new ways to overcome this situation, diminishing exports and increasing imports. 2) Korean apparel companies selected more offshore sourcing than domestic sourcing. Also, as Korean apparel companies manufactured apparel products offshore, foreign subcontracting outranked manufacturing in their own foreign plants. When they chose foreign countries to source, they turned mainly to China and Vietnam. Also, they considered the target country's manufacturing price, labor stability, apparel products, quality, lead time, and so on. In order to increase apparel exports, Korean apparel industries should focus more on developing competitively new apparel products, improving the ability of sourcing management, and establishing on-the-spot agencies.

• Korea and Global Affairs
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.71-96
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• 2017

This study speculates on responses to the nuclear threats of North Korea and mutual assistance and cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and China for the unification of the Korean Peninsula. As for the North Koreas nuclear issue and unification of the Korean Peninsula, South Korea is the subject of national division, the U.S. is a responsible country in international issues and does not have diplomatic ties with North Korea. China is a traditional socialist nation and a supporter of North Korea. As North Korea's strategic weapons including nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles are international issues, to defend against Kim Jung-Eun's unexpected acts, the three countries should actively cooperate with each other and develop countermeasures. However, with respect to the road map of the North Koreas issue, there are subtle differences between the U.S. and China in recognition of and sanctions against North Korea as a resolution of the U..N. Security Council. The U.S. has continued a deterrence policy and sanctions against North Korea based on joint threats between South Korea and the U.S. while China has showed a negative position in the process of solving the North Korean nuclear issue because of the unstable security derived from the U.S. 's intervention in the Korean peninsula. North Korea should change its diplomatic policy in a more concrete way towards world peace although it has continued trade of strategic weapons with Middle Eastern countries to maintain its political system. For example, to restart the summit talks and open multilateral security channels. Although the issue of unification of the Korean peninsula should be resolved by South and North Korea themselves, it is strange that South and North Korea depend on the logic of powerful countries for the resolution of a national problem. As for North Koreas nuclear and the Unification issues, peaceful solutions presented by South Korea seem more persuasive than the solution presented by North Korea which did not secure any international support. However, South Korea, the U.S. and China need to develop uni-directional two-tract strategies for sanctions against North Korea and talks with North Korea for peace on the Korean peninsula, and should continue to support the economic independence of North Korea.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.5-17
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• 2017

The main objective of the study is to measure the vulnerability of Indonesia's financial system stability in response to external shocks, including from regional economies namely three biggest Indonesia major trading partners (China, the U.S and Japan) and other external factors (oil price and the federal funds rate). Using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model and Orthogonalized Impulse Response Function (OIRF) with quarterly data over the period Q4 2002 - Q1 2016, results confirm that, 1) oil price response has the largest effect to Indonesia financial stability system and the effect period is the longest compared to others, represented by NPL and IHSG; 2) among those three economies, only China's economic growth has significantly positive effect to Indonesia financial stability system. Based on the findings it is better for the authorities to: 1) Diversify international trade commodities by decreasing share of oil, gas, and mining export and boosting other potential sectors such as manufacture, and fisheries; 2) Ensure the survival of Indonesia large coal exporter companies without neglecting burden of national budget; and 3) Create buffer for demand shock from specific countries by diversifying and increasing share of trading from other countries particularly from ASEAN member states.