Dr. Kangkook Lee is Professor of College of Economics at Ritsumeikan University in Japan and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE We often hear in the news that tech companies are laying off workers on a large scale due to the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI). When using generative AI that has become smarter than humans, it seems we have entered an era where people are no longer needed for tasks such as data collection, analysis, report writing, and software develop

Dr. Kangkook Lee is Professor of College of Economics at Ritsumeikan University in Japan and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE As discussed in the previous article, even though evidence that artificial intelligence (AI) technology has boosted productivity is scarce to date, the future could be vastly different. Various studies have already presented scenarios forecasting the growth effects of AI. However, these studies also face a clash between optimism and pessimism. Will

Dr. Kiho Han, Director (Associate Professor) of the Research Laboratory at the Ajou University Institute for Unification Studies and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE "Motivated reasoning," as explained by psychologist Chiba Kunda, focuses on the desires and expectations involved in judging information. When people have a desired conclusion, they readily accept information that aligns with it, while demanding rigorous proof for inconvenient information. Neither the media no

Dr. Nam-Kook Kim, Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University and Advisory Committee Member of CUKPE In Tolstoy's novel What Men Live By, the angel Mikhail says that he realized that while people appear to live out of concern for themselves, they actually live out of love for one another. Judging from the story of the shoemaker couple who took pity on him and saved him when he was naked on a cold winter day, and the neighbo

Dr. Kangkook Lee is Professor of College of Economics at Ritsumeikan University in Japan and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE Since the launch of 'ChatGPT 3.5' in late 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) has suddenly become a reality rather than a future. As humanity asks questions to AI that has become smarter than humans and listens to their answers, we have cheered on one hand that a new era has begun, while on the other, we have started to worry about the future. Optimi

Dr. Kangkook Lee is Professor of College of Economics at Ritsumeikan University in Japan and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE I visited Korea for the summer vacation. I met up with friends and seniors for the first time in a while and we discussed economic and political issues between Korea and Japan. Everyone agreed that Korea's economic growth rate is much higher, so the gap with Japan will likely widen further for the time being. However, along with this, the inevitable

Hansin Kim / Attorney, Chairman of the Center for U.S.-Korea Politics and Economy With the U.S. midterm elections approaching this November, voices calling for caution regarding U.S. investment are emerging amidst deepening inflation and mounting policy uncertainty. Kim Han-shin, co-managing partner of LACWKRR (Lee Anav Chung White Kim Ruger & Richter LLP), whom I met recently at the 24th World Korean Business Convention, explained, "Compared to the announced scale of U.S. in

Dr. Kiho Han, Director (Associate Professor) of the Research Laboratory at the Ajou University Institute for Unification Studies and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE On September 21, soldiers of the Army's 25th Infantry Division were involved in an explosion believed to be caused by a landmine while conducting a search route clearing operation in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the western front. At the time, two explosions occurred near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL)

Dr. Kiho Han, Director (Associate Professor) of the Research Laboratory at the Ajou University Institute for Unification Studies and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE NK News Op-ed by Dr. Kiho Han (September 23, 2026) (There might be a paywall for this op-ed.) (The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official stance of the center.)

Dr. Jongkun Choi, Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Yonsei University and Advisory Board member of CUKPE [Spot Interview] Yonsei University Professor Choi Jong-geon Issues Warning While Criticizing the 'National Interest' Logic Amidst the Hormuz Deployment Issue "The suggestion to deploy our troops out of consideration for national interests is a cliché that fails to deeply contemplate the true nature of this war." Amid the government's ongoing revie

Dr. Nam-Kook Kim, Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University and Advisory Committee Member of CUKPE Overshadowed by the impact of the U.S.-Iran war on the global economy, the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022 and is now entering its fifth year, is becoming a forgotten conflict. Meanwhile, the nature of the war has intensified; Ukraine is using drones to concentrate attacks on energy facilities in mainland Ru

Dr. Kangkook Lee is Professor of College of Economics at Ritsumeikan University in Japan and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE Recently, the biggest focus of attention in the international financial market has been interest rates. This is because long-term interest rates in developed countries such as the United States, Japan, and Europe are rising rapidly. Typically, long-term rates rise when demand for funds increases due to expectations of economic improvement, when infl

Dr. Kiho Han, Director (Associate Professor) of the Research Laboratory at the Ajou University Institute for Unification Studies and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE President Trump, who stormed out of the Metropol Hanoi Hotel on February 28, 2019, is once again reaching out to Chairman Kim Jong Un. On August 19, he announced at the White House that he would “meet Chairman Kim Jong Un later this year,” and on the 17th, he stated that he had received a “very positive” respo

Dr. Inyeop Lee, our Center's Affiliated Research Fellow and Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tennessee Tech University, has recently published a new journal article on “Demystifying North Korea by Teaching It in a Comparative Perspective”, ASIANetwork Exchange A Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts 30(1), 2026.

Dr. Inyeop Lee, our Center's Affiliated Research Fellow and Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tennessee Tech University, has recently published a new book chapter on "Contrasting Approaches to Middle Power Diplomacy: A Comparative Study of the Moon Jae-in and Yoon Suk Yeol Administrations" in South Korea in the Context of US-China Competition: Negotiating the Growing Tensions between Geopolitics and Geo-Economics.

Dr. Kangkook Lee is Professor of College of Economics at Ritsumeikan University in Japan and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE 4,755 trillion won is the total amount that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix announced they would invest by 2035 as part of the Lee Jae-myung administration's "Three Mega Projects for a Great Leap Forward" on June 29. While this figure represents the sum of the two companies' existing investment projects, the amount announced by the government, base

Dr. Kangkook Lee is Professor of College of Economics at Ritsumeikan University in Japan and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE Five days before South Korea's Lee Jae-myung administration announced three major mega-projects centered on semiconductor companies on the 29th of last month, Japan's Takaichi administration also unveiled a large-scale investment plan. It publicly declared that the public and private sectors would jointly invest 370 trillion yen in strategic industr

Dr. Kangkook Lee is Professor of College of Economics at Ritsumeikan University in Japan and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE The term 'China shock' refers to the phenomenon in which manufacturing production and employment in developed countries, such as the United States, which are exposed to imports from China, have shrunk as China's exports surged following China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. In fact, empirical analysis by Professor David Au

Dr. Kangkook Lee is Professor of College of Economics at Ritsumeikan University in Japan and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE Since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration, the South Korean stock market has been met with mixed cheers and sighs. The KOSPI index surged more than threefold from 2,770 on June 4, 2025, the day the president took office, to 9,115 on June 22, 2026, approximately one year later. However, it subsequently plummeted, falling to 5,593 in July,

Dr. Kiho Han, Director (Associate Professor) of the Research Laboratory at the Ajou University Institute for Unification Studies and Affiliated Research Fellow at CUKPE It is the 73rd anniversary of the Armistice Agreement. Since the sound of war shelling ceased on the Korean Peninsula, enough time has passed for a person to be born and grow old. During this time, countless events and incidents have been engraved into the tree rings of division between the South and the North