Some Aspects of United States-Korean Trade Relations

What follows is a general orientation for lawyers to the most pressing problems affecting United States-Korean trade relations. Most of these problems are not traditionally legal in the narrow sense. Instead, they result from major differences in Korean and American economic and political policies, as well as the even greater cultural and economic differences between the two countries. I have titled what follows an overview - an aerial photograph of the terrain - showing the main features of the geography. These features, however, cannot be presented all at once as in a photograph, but must be presented ad seriatim in writing. I have chosen to proceed in the following order: first, some general remarks on the history of the Korean economy over the past twenty years; second, a contrast of the ways Koreans and Americans do business and practice law; third, a section to describe the predominant features of governmental economic regulations and policies; fourth, a description of differences in Kirean and American economic interests and policies, and the problems for United States-Korean trade which these differing interests and policies generate. The more particular problems affecting only a single industry are beyond the scope of this article. The problems discussed in this article, however, are those which affect all transactions in United States-Korean trade