Asia-Pacific

Join ITIF for a panel discussion with international experts on a forthcoming report analyzing a decade of previously uncompiled KFTC enforcement data, what its findings mean for U.S.–Korea economic relations, and how policymakers in both countries should respond.

Japan was a competitor inside the U.S. alliance system. China is a rival trying to replace it. Waiting for China to repeat Japan’s slowdown is not a strategy.

Daniel Castro speaks about the potential of improving science and technology policy through the use of AI and predictive analytics on the "Intelligence beyond Information, Signal beyond Noise: EWS Detecting Emerging Security" panel at the 2026 Intelligence Dialogue in Seoul, South Korea, hosted by the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI).

South Korea’s AI-memory boom proves that it can still lead at the technological frontier. The proposed Future Response Fund and national megaprojects will test whether South Korea can turn that lead into stronger suppliers, exportable capabilities, and allied scale before Chinese expansion narrows its industrial base.

Thailand’s digital markets exhibit no general market failure that could justify either new ex ante digital antitrust regulation like the PEA or the sort of heavy-handed sector-specific changes to its ex post enforcement framework contemplated by the Proposed Guidelines.

The JFTC has an excellent opportunity to set the global gold standard for competition policy in merger enforcement by issuing guidelines that best foster innovation by fully encouraging the dynamic efficiency benefits that business combinations can bring.

Building factories is not the same as achieving lasting industrial strength. Korea should design its “Three Megaprojects” as reference factories that give suppliers the testing, qualification, and commercial track records needed to win customers around the world.

Draft Amendments to Decree 35 appear premature and may have to be reassessed following the outcome of the broader reforms being considered for the Competition Law.

Korea should use its AI-memory windfall to finance the shared capabilities, research infrastructure, and commercialization pathways needed to create the next boom. The Future Response Fund should address enduring commercialization gaps, not create permanent spending commitments.

South Korea's discriminatory treatment of American tech firms exposes a critical gap in the U.S.-Korea relationship. The two countries should negotiate a dedicated mechanism for resolving bilateral digital trade disputes.