How to Lose Friends and Aggravate Others
The informed recognize Korea’s ascension as a developed economy. that is undisputed to those that know better. That position is (relatively) secure. However, issues remain. One of these issues is highlighted here, in this Bloomberg article. The theme: legal system stability doesn’t exist in Korea.

Flip-flopping Is Bad
Agreements with foreign countries, and companies, can only be achieved if both parties agree, and importantly, both parties must believe that policies will exist in the future. Let’s say you are a company, and you agree to a multi-year investment in Korea. If however, the rules change halfway, then what? Even the perception that the rules could change may alter the decision to enter the agreement in the first place. Korea suffers from this. It has a poor reputation in international markets. The Lone Star/KEB debacle is part of this and has left Korea with scars. Repealing the Korea-US FTA would only worsen matters. Even the threat of doing so is damaging.