Myung-koo Kang

Education

Ph.D., Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

M.A., Political Science, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley CA

M.A., International Relations, Seoul National University Seoul South Korea

B.A., International Relations, Seoul National University Seoul South Korea

Journal Articles

Kang, M. (2018). Financial Transformation in South Korea: The role of U.S.-trained Technocrats. Asian Survey, 58 (4)(635-659).

Kang, M. (2018). The Confidence Trap: Japan's Past Bubble and China's Recent Bubble. New Political Economy, 23 (1)(1-26).

Kang, M., & Ha, E. (2015). Government Responses to Financial Crises: Identifying Patterns and Policy Origins in Developing Countries. World Development, 68(264-281).

(2014). The Politics of Bank Bailout in Japan: A Cognitive Capture and Leadership View. The Pacific Review, 27 (2)(193-215).

(2014). Democratic Transition and Intra-Party Politics: The Distribution of Key Party Positions in Democratizing South Korea. The Journal of Korean Studies, 19(1). 7-36.

Kang, M., & Ha, Y. (2011). Creating A Capable Bureaucracy with Loyalists: The Internal Dynamics of the Korean Developmental State, 1948-1979. Comparative Political Studies, 44 (1)(78-108).

Kang, M. (2010). Is Japan Facing a Public Debt Crisis? Debt Financing and the Development of the JGB Market. Asian Politics and Policy, 2 (4)(557-582).

(2009). Too Fast To Adjust: The Sequence and Consequences of Bank Restructuring in South Korea. Asian Survey, 49(2). 243-267.

COVID-19 Fiscal Policy Responses Across Welfare State Regimes. In Progress.

Book Chapters

Kang, M. (2016). A Unified Financial Supervisory Model in South Korea: Origins and Evolution. In Yung Lee, H., & Kim, S. (Eds.), The Changing Role of Korean State: In the Post Developmental Era (pp. 73-92). Logos Verlag Berlin.

Kang, M., & Haggard, S. (2015). The Politics of Growth in South Korea: Miracle, Crisis, and the New Market Economy. In Lancaster, C., & van de Walle, N. (Eds.), Oxford Handbook on the Politics of Development (p. 15 pages). Oxford. Oxford University Press.

Kang, M. (2015). Fiscal Performance in South Korea (1970-2012): Growing Non-Budgetary Indiscipline. In Park, G., & Ide, E. (Eds.), Shifting Fortunes: Deficits and Debt in the Industrialized Democracies (pp. 116-145). New York, NY. Routledge.

Kang, M. (2014). South Korea's Foreign Economic Policies and Government Policies. In Ravenhill, J., Foot, R., & Pekkanen, S. (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of International Relations in Asia (pp. 199-216). Oxford University Press.

Kang, M. (2014). Government Intervention for Resolving Non-Performing Loans in Japan and South Korea, 1998-2006. In Yung Lee, H. (Ed.), A Comparative Study of East Asian Capitalism (pp. 45-77). University of California, Berkeley. Institute of East Asian Studies.

Kang, M. (2011). Global Financial Imbalances and Asia’s Strategic Choice. Beyond National Boundaries: Building a World without Walls (pp. 251-285). Seoul,South Korea. The Academy of Korean Studies.

Media Contributions

Kang, M. (2025). How Canada and Mexico Blocked Trump's Tariff Bomb; Before Signing the $350 Billion Deal, Automatic Tariff Exemption Clause Must Be Added to KORUS FTA (Ohmynews Aug. 7).

Kang, M. (2025). Why Did Trump Postpone the Reciprocal Tariff? The Bond Market's Revenge (Ohmynews, April 11).

Kang, M. (2025). Why South Korea Must Prepare for a US Credit Downgrade (Oymynews, June 19).

Kang, M. (2025). Trump's 'Digital Finance Time Bomb' : Structural Flaws in America's 'Genius Act' Should Serve as a Cautionary Tale (Ohmynews, July 21) .

Kang, M. (2024). Trump's Nuclear Paradox: Can Seoul Arm While Washington Talks to Pyongyang? (Ohmynews, July 10).

Kang, M. (2024). Why Trump's Reelection Remains Likely Despite Mounting Legal Challenges (Ohmynews, April 16).

Kang, M. (2020). The Future Prediction: Hedgehog vs. Fox (in Korean).

Kang, M. (2020). John Bolton’s Memoir and American Exceptionalism (in Korean).

Kang, M. (2020). Reforming the National Assembly: The New Politics for a New Era (in Korean).

Kang, M. (2020). In the case of Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal” (in Korean).

Kang, M. (2020). Now is the Time to Discuss the Disaster Basic Income (in Korean).

Government Reports or Monographs

Kang, M. (2021). US-ROK Alliance: Advancing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. pp.38-55.

Presentations

Kang, M. (2025, January 17). A Better Future for the US-ROK Alliance. 2022 RINSA Security Forum. Seoul, South Korea: The Center for Security Studies, The Korea National Defense University.

Kang, M. (2025, November 23). A Transformation Era: The Biden Administration's foreign policy toward the Korean Peninsula. The Great Shift: Continuity and Change in World Politics. Seoul, South Korea: The Korea National Defense University.

Kang, M. (2020, December 1). The future of the US-ROK Alliance after the 2020 US presidential election. 2020 U.S. Presidential Election and the Future of U.S.-ROK Alliance. Virtual Zoom meeting: Former Members of Congress: The Congressional Study Groups.

Kang, M. (2019, May 2). Three Critical Issues in US-ROK Alliance. ROK-US Track 2 Strategic Conversation. Washington, D.C.: Sejong Institute, Brookings Institution.

Kang, M. (2019, May 25). The Collapse Thesis of North Korea and Its Critiques. Institutionalization of the Peace Process on the Korean Peninsula. Washington, D.C.: Korea Law Research Institute & Law School of American University.

Kang, M. (2019, June 19). Revisiting the Collapse Thesis of North Korea: The Origins and Its Evolution in the U.S. Policymaking Community. The Korean Peninsula and US-ROK Alliance: Credibility, Connectivity, and Practicality. Washington, D.C.: Korea Economic Institute of America.

Kang, M. (2019, September 23). Promoting regional consensus on the path toward peace in Korea. Seoul-Washington Forum Fall 2019. Washington, D.C.: Council of Foreign Relations & Sejong Institute.

Kang, M. (2019, September 24). The military defense cost-sharing issues in US-ROK relations. ROK-US Alliance Cooperation International Conference. Washington, D.C.: Sejong Institute & Hudson Institute.

Kang, M. (2018, April 7). The Historical Origins of the One-Man Dominance (Chongsu) in Korean Chaebols: A Financial Control Thesis. 59th Annual Convention. San Francisco: International Studies Association.

Kang, M. (2018, May 24). Emulation: A Korean Model of Economic Development. University of California, San Diego: School of Global Policy and Strategy(GPS)’s Korea-Pacific Program.

Kang, M. (2018, April 6). Monetary Spillovers to Developing Asia. 59th Annual Convention. San Francisco: International Studies Association.

Kang, M. (2018, August 30). A Captured State: Big Business and Its Network Politics in South Korea. Annual Meeting. Boston: American Political Science Association.

Kang, M. (2016, March 1). Japan's past, Korea's future? A Korean model of financial liberalization and its consequences. : The Center for Korean Studies (University of Washington).

Kang, M. (2016, November 17). A Novel Solution or Mimicry? A Korean Model of Financial Liberalization. Kim Koo Forum on Korea Current Affairs. Harvard University: Korea Institute.

Kang, M. (2015, June 27). Diffusion, Institutional Templates and Mutation: The Korean Case of Financial Liberalization. Yeosu Summer Conference. Yeosu, South Korea: Korea Association for International Studies.

Kang, M. (2015, December 15). A Korean Institutional Template: A Conceptual Framework. Workshop on Korean Politics. Seoul, Korea

Kang, M. (2015, December 11). China's Asset and Credit Bubble: Is it different from Japan's one?. Annual Conference. Seoul, South Korea: the Korea Association for International Studies.

Kang, M. (2014, May 25). Is China’s Bubble Different? Lessons from the Japanese Bubble Economy of the 1980s. 10th Shanghai Forum. Shanghai, China: Fudan University.

Kang, M. (2013, August 12). Fiscal Performance in Korea. Explaining Fiscal Performance: An International Study. Los Angeles: Loyola Mary Mount University.

Kang, M. (2013, January 6). The Politics of Fiscal Performance in Korea. Explaining Fiscal Performance: An International Study. Tokyo, Japan: Keio University.

Kang, M. (2013, June 29). Addiction to Uncertainty: Regulatory Rush and the Exceptional Growth of Financial Derivatives Markets in South Korea. Annual Fellow Program. Seoul, South Korea: East Asia Institute.

Kang, M. (2013, April 12). Fiscal expansion vs. Austerity: A Comparative Analysis of Fiscal Policy Shift in the United States, Germany, Britain, and Japan. Annual Meeting. Chicago: The Mid-West Political Science Association.

Kang, M. (2011, December 21). Freer Markets, Unrealized Gains: The Consequences of Capital Market Liberalization in Korea. Critical Issues in Korean Political Economy. Berkeley, CA: Center for Korean Studies.

Kang, M. (2011, February 18). Government Responses to Financial Crises: Identifying Patterns and Policy Origins. The first Southern California Comparative Political Science conference. Riverside, CA: Dept. of Political Science, U.C. Riverside.

Kang, M. (2011, September 4). Government Responses to Financial Crises: Identifying Patterns and Policy Origins. APSA Annual Meeting. Seattle: American Political Science Association.

Kang, M. (2011, November 6). Politics after Democratization. Seoul National University Brain Network Workshop. Los Angeles, CA: Seoul National University Alumni Association.

Kang, M. (2010, February 27). A Financial Hub in East Asia: Is it Possible and Desirable for Korea?. Symposium on "Contemporary Korea: Problems and Prospects". Los Angeles, CA: Center for Korean Studies, UCLA.

Kang, M. (2010, September 29). Global Financial Imbalances and Asia’s Strategic Choice. The 2010 Global Forum on Civilization and Peace. Seoul, Korea: The Academy of Korean Studies.

Kang, M. (2010, October 29). Economic Ties between Japan and Korea. The Future of Korea-Japan Relations: Economics, Culture and History. Los Angeles, CA: The Korean Studies Institute, USC.

Kang, M. (2009, February 27). The Irony of Korean Financial Reforms: Why Does Korea Suffer More?. Korean studies colloquium series. Berkeley, CA: Center for Korean Studies, U.C. Berkeley.

Kang, M. (2009, March 28). Government Intervention for Resolving Non-Performing Loans in Japan and South Korea, 1998-2006. Conference on East Asian Capitalism. Berkeley, CA: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley.

Kang, M. (2009, May 5). Global Financial Crisis and the Systemic Risk in the Korean Banking Sector. Academic Paper Series. Washington, D.C.: The Korea Economic Institute.

Kang, M. (2009, June 22). Cross-border Banking and Financial Regulatory Reforms in South Korea. Korea University, Seoul, Korea: The Academy of Korean Studies and the Institute of East Asian Studies at U.C. Berkeley.

Kang, M. (2009, October 10). Surgical vs. Non-Surgical Intervention: Two Ways of Resolving Non-performing Loans. The Rising stars in Korean Social Sciences. Los Angeles, CA: The Korean Studies Institute, USC.

Kang, M. (2009, September 4). Public Debt and Fiscal Consolidation in Japan: An Analysis on the JGB Markets. APSA Annual Meeting. Toronto, Canada: American Political Science Association.

Kang, M. (2008, November 22). Financial Liberalization, the Crisis and Recovery in Korea. Workshop at "Strengthening Korean Studies". Berkeley, CA: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley.

Other Scholarly Works

Reviews

Kang, M. (2025,March 8). THE SOUTH KOREAN ECONOMY, By Sunil Kim and Jonson Porteux, Agenda Publishing [distributed by Columbia University Press], 2022.. Pacific Affairs.

Kang, M. (2017,August 1). A Korean Model of Development: Sustainable and Transferrable. Cambridge University Press: Journal of Asian Studies.

Kang, M. (2013,February 1). Review of Asia’s Unknown Uprisings. New Political Science.

Kang, M. (2010,January 1). Review of East Asian Regionalism. Journal of East Asian Studies.

Kang, M. (2008,April 1). Review of Korea in Asia: East Asian Integration and the China Factor. Journal of East Asian Studies.

Kang, M. (2006,April 1). Review of Japan's Financial Crisis:Institutional Rigidity and Reluctant Change. Pacific Affairs.

Research Currently in Progess

Kang, M.(n.d.). The Puzzle of Divergent Debt Regimes: Japan and South Korea's Institutional Templates and Financial Architectures. In Progress.

Kang, M.(n.d.). Cold War Diplomacy under the East Asian Security Architecture. In Progress.

Kang, M.(n.d.). The Political Economy of Korean Won Internationalization. In Progress.

Kang, M.(n.d.). Colonial Modernity and Nation-State Formation: Korea's Transformative Appropriation under Japanese Rule (1910-1945). In Progress.

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