Korea Faces Opportunities as Well as Risks Under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

19 Pages Posted: 11 Jul 2023 Last revised: 6 May 2024

See all articles by Jeffrey J. Schott

Jeffrey J. Schott

Peterson Institute for International Economics

Megan Hogan

Peterson Institute for International Economics

Date Written: July 10, 2023

Abstract

South Korea participates in several regional trade and investment arrangements, including the bilateral Korea-China Free Trade Agreement, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP); it has also joined the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) and is considering following China’s example and applying for membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). All these initiatives are complementary and open to a broad range of countries and separate customs territories. The US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) would largely reinforce Korea’s benefits from other economic integration pacts, but in key respects it could build barricades instead of bridges to nonmember countries. The authors examine the progress in building IPEF, how the four IPEF pillars would advance and/or constrain Korean policy, and what the impact could be on Korea’s economic relations with major trading nations in the region, including China, which shares membership with Korea in important pacts like RCEP. The key challenge for Korea in IPEF will be to balance its relationships with China while deepening its economic and security ties with the United States.

Suggested Citation

Schott, Jeffrey J. and Hogan, Megan, Korea Faces Opportunities as Well as Risks Under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (July 10, 2023). Peterson Institute for International Economics Policy Brief 23-11, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4506059

Jeffrey J. Schott (Contact Author)

Peterson Institute for International Economics ( email )

1750 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
United States

Megan Hogan

Peterson Institute for International Economics ( email )

1750 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
35
Abstract Views
349
PlumX Metrics