Posts from the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Category
A recent report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes summarizes the legal and regulatory framework for transparency and exchange of information in Korea.
The report notes that Korea has 86 exchange of information partners covered by 83 DTCs (Double Tax Conventions) and 3 TIEAs (Tax Information Exchange Agreements) and that Korea fully endorses the international standard for transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes. Read more
The recently released Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index 2011-12 shows South Korea is ranked 44th in press freedom, falling below Botswana, South Africa and Ghana.
It was expected that Korea would fall in the rankings. In March 2011, the Reporters Without Borders country file on Korea was was less than positive:
Infrastructure investment in World Bank client countries by Korean sponsors
January 25, 2012
junotane
The World Bank has released a report entitled Infrastructure investment in World Bank client countries by Korean sponsors, which shows that during the period 1990-2010 project sponsors from the Republic of Korea implemented nineteen infrastructure projects in low and middle income countries.
A report carried by Yonhap on 23 January cited Ministry of Unification figures showing that production at the Kaesong Industrial Complex expanded 14.4 percent year-on-year with total production reaching USD369.9 million during the January-November period in 2011, up from USD323.3 million worth of production for all of 2010.
On 18 January 2012, the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (International Relations Program) at the University of Pennsylvania released the United Nations University Edition of the Global Think Tanks Report 2011. According to the report’s preface:
“The 2011 Global Go To Think Tank Rankings marks the fifth edition of the annual report. As in previous years, the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) at the University of Pennsylvania’s International Relations Program has relied on the indexing criteria and process developed by James G. McGann for ranking think tanks around the world.
Publication entitled “Living with North Korea without Kim Jong Il: A South Korean Perspective”, by Kim Tae-Woo of the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU). Read more
On 2 January 2012, the Wall Street Journal ’Korea Now‘ blog carried a short post on key Republican presidential candidates’ views regarding Korea.
It noted that there was a degree of disinterest in Korean affairs in the lead-up to the 2008 and suggests that it is again unlikely to be a major issue unless tension once increases substantially.
Preparations are currently underway for the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, which will be held during 26-27 March 2012.
The summit is the largest in the security field focusing on international cooperative measures to protect nuclear materials and facilities from terrorist groups.
On 19 December 2011, the Korea Stock Exchange Index (KOSPI) fell 4.2 percent on news of the death of Kim Jong-Il and ended the day 3.43 percent down. On 20 December 2011, the KOSPI traded modestly higher following gains from the technology and the automobile producer sector with the majority of analysts forecasting additional support for the market on 21 December 2011.
On 19 December 2011 North Korean media announced Kim Jong-Il passed away. It reported the death occurred on 17 December 2011 and that physical fatigue was the cause of death. Resources on North Korea after Kim Jong-Il:
Jeffrey Robertson, Political change in North Korea, Parliament of Australia,
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rp/2007-08/08rp19.pdf
