The success of economic reforms in a transitional economy is crucial in defining the nation’s role in the international community. Successful reform, however, is critically dependent upon what exchange rate arrangement the country may choose. China has adopted a de facto peg to the U.S. dollar while Russia chose a floating exchange rate arrangement. Cuba has been using a dual currency system while Vietnam used a combination of a peg to the U.S. dollar as well as a managed float. So what about North Korea?

In their paper, Drs. Jeong, Lee, and Mukherji search for an exchange rate regime suitable for North Korea to achieve its own economic reforms while also discussing the implications of such an arrangement for South Korea and North Korea’s international standing. On January 21, KEI hosted a lunchtime program featuring a presentation of this paper.

To read this paper, please see the link below.

Dr. Jin-Gil Jeong is Associate Professor of Finance at the School of Business at Howard University in Washington, DC. He joined the Department of Finance in 1995 after serving as a Lecturer at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, where he also received his Ph.D. in Finance. He has taught Finance courses such as International Financial Management, Investments and Portfolio Analysis, and Financial Derivatives. His primary research areas of interest include International Finance, Investments, and Corporate Finance. He has published many papers in the leading Finance journals. Dr. Jeong has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Best Paper Award at the 5th Annual Global Finance Conference held in Mexico City, Mexico. Prior to coming to the U.S., he served as an Economist in the Research Department of the Bank of Korea (1979-1983), after graduating from the School of Business at Seoul National University.