South Korea Says It Will Join China-Led Investment Bank

[theniubt]

SEOUL—South Korea said Thursday it would join China’s planned development bank, the latest U.S. ally to sign up to an institution viewed with skepticism by Washington.

The move reflects warm ties between the Asian neighbors and Seoul’s desire for its companies to not miss out on projects funded by the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which has been steadily gaining members.

South Korea has been weighing participation in the bank cautiously, according to government officials, as it balances its deepening economic links to China and its long-standing security alliance with the U.S.

China is now South Korea’s biggest trading partner but Seoul also depends on U.S. military support to fend off aggression from North Korea. About a quarter of Seoul’s exports go to China, compared with about 12% going to the U.S.

Seoul’s finance ministry said progress had been made in addressing issues over the AIIB’s governance, a concern raised by the U.S. as it worries that the bank may be used by China as a way to exert influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

U.S. officials have called for the bank to meet the same standards of governance as other major lenders such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

While South Korea’s construction and other infrastructure companies participate in projects around the world, its government has faced domestic criticism for not providing sufficient support for new deals overseas.

Slowing growth in South Korea has also increased pressure on the government to find new sources of economic expansion.

South Korea’s finance ministry said in a statement it expected “the AIIB to help expand business opportunities for South Korean firms with expertise in the construction, telecommunications and transportation sectors…by creating a huge infrastructure-building market.”

Seoul’s challenge in balancing ties between the U.S. and China can also be seen in a dispute over the possible deployment of a U.S. missile defense battery in South Korea. Beijing has publicly opposed the idea, which the U.S. says would ensure protection from North Korea missiles.

South Korea has yet to state a position on the issue, saying discussions with the U.S. have yet to take place.

Source

 

[ShowTime]

greatest comrade why didn't you invite me.

probably because the Chinese don't accept fake American dollars and Meth as payment.


But seriously though, it's good that Obama can make me mad so often, with the retirement age so far off, and further still when it's my turn, probably would put me out of my misery faster.

 

[C130]

probably because the Chinese don't accept fake American dollars and Meth as payment.


But seriously though, it's good that Obama can make me mad so often, with the retirement age so far off, and further still when it's my turn, probably would put me out of my misery faster.

what NK has is people and they are basically slaves. a little investment could return massive profits. is it ethical??? does china care


obviously SK doesn't with that kaesong industrial complex.


maybe china already has investments in NK north area??? can a Chinese friend help me out with that??

is China banks investing in NK?

 

[TaiShang]

China welcomes all countries to join AIIB
Source:Xinhua Published: 2015-3-25 16:56:43

All countries are welcomed to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), China's Vice Finance Minister Shi Yaobin said Wednesday.

"The AIIB is an open and inclusive multilateral development bank. China welcomes all countries to join and make contributions to the infrastructure improvement in Asia," Shi said, responding to a question on whether China communicated with the United States or Japan during the preparation for AIIB.

"However, China will respect their decision whether or when to join," he said.

"China is willing to strengthen communication with them under bilateral or multilateral economic dialogue mechanisms and cooperate with existing multilateral organizations such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank."

Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland recently applied to join the AIIB, which already has 27 prospective founding members.

 

[Yizhi]

what NK has is people and they are basically slaves. a little investment could return massive profits. is it ethical??? does china care


obviously SK doesn't with that kaesong industrial complex.


maybe china already has investments in NK north area??? can a Chinese friend help me out with that??

is China banks investing in NK?

your logic is strange.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Rogers Is Bullish On North Korea - Business Insider

Here's Why I'm Dying To Invest In North Korea

In 2007, my wife Paige and I received permission to visit North Korea. I wanted to go there because I sensed that changes were coming.

Now I am not a tour group kind of person. I like to make my own way and create my own itinerary, to decide where to go and what to eat. That is not an option in North Korea, where we had government minders every minute we were there. Walking down the main thoroughfare in Pyongyang, I saw a barbershop, and because I needed a haircut, I ducked inside, where an old man sitting on a stool stood up in shock when I started pantomiming the use of scissors with my hands. I was summarily pulled outside by one of our minders. A haircut, he assured me, was not on the agenda.

By 2007, I think, only something like three hundred Americans had been to North Korea since before the Second World War — there was some strange statistic like that. Virtually no Americans had been allowed to go there since General Douglas MacArthur's troops went across in the early 1950s.

It was clear to me that the North Koreans knew that their country needed changing. And it was not hard to understand why. All the North Korean generals, as young officers, thirty years ago, were sent to places like Beijing, Moscow, and Shanghai. Today they go as generals and see the changes that have taken place, and when they return to Pyongyang they say to themselves: Look at what is going on in those places, and now take a look at where we live — nothing has happened here, this place is still a disaster.

The country's supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, was educated at a private school in Switzerland. It is very unlikely that a guy who is thirty years old and spent his formative years in Europe is going to come back and say, "Boy, I really like this, with no bars, no entertainment, no cars, no nothing."

These men have been exposed to the outside world, and they know what is going on there. And in my view that is why North Korea is about to open up. And when it does, it will be a formidable player on the world stage. The Chinese are already pouring in. Up in the northwest, they are building new bridges connecting the two countries. There are new trade zones up there. So change is happening.

AP/David GuttenfelderIs this the next emerging market?

Everywhere we went we could see propaganda posters calling for one country, two systems — which was the prevailing mantra in the late 1990s when Hong Kong went back to China. If the propaganda is to be believed, the country, despite what you might read in the United States, is keen for unification. A unified Korea would be an economic powerhouse. The only opponents of such a positive step are the United States and Japan.

If North and South Korea unite, Japan will be faced with a huge new competitor, much more powerful a competitor than South Korea is right now. There will be a country of seventy-five to eighty million people right on the Chinese border, with lots of cheap, disciplined labor and natural resources in the north and lots of capital, expertise, and management capabilities in the south. Such a country would run circles around Japan. The cost of doing business in Japan is high and getting higher. Among other things, the Japanese do not have a lot of cheap labor anymore.

Japan is against unification for obvious reasons. I am not sure why America is against it, other than simple inertia. For American bureaucrats, who are intellectually lethargic, characteristically slow to change their thinking, a divided Korea is a way of life. Several thousand US soldiers are stationed in South Korea — it is something of an industry, and an entire bureaucracy subsists on the industry's continuity.

Flickr/Josh ChinA Chinese tourist prepares to have her picture taken in traditional Korean clothing in Dandong, across from the North Korean city of Sinuiju.

Where are the investment opportunities in North Korea? one might ask. I invest in markets, and there is no market there, so I would have to find companies, maybe Chinese or other Asian companies, that would benefit from the opening up of North Korea. I do not know of such companies right now. But North Korea is ripe for factories, hotels, restaurants, pretty much anything at this point. North Korea has nothing — no mobile phones, no Internet. Like Myanmar, the country lacks everything from the most basic goods and services to the highest technology. Yes, Myanmar has the Internet, but very little penetration. Yes, both countries have soap, but not nearly enough. Yes, both countries have electricity, but not nearly enough.

Tourism, I believe, presents investment opportunities in North Korea. There are only twenty-five million North Koreans, so there is not going to be a big boom in their traveling the world, but there is probably going to be a big boom in South Koreans visiting North Korea. There will be a staggering business in marriage, because there is a huge shortage of girls in South Korea. South Korean men can look for wives in Los Angeles or Queens, but the main source of Korean brides is going to be North Korea. The north does not suffer from the demographic problem that plagues the South.

I am dying to find a way to invest in both North Korea and Myanmar. The major changes in these two countries are among the most exciting things I see right now, looking to the future.

--------------------------------------------------------

see, he is an American.

 

[AndrewJin]

Everybody is talking about AIIB and stuff, how about we ILI PIKAS?

 

[Edison Chen]

what NK has is people and they are basically slaves. a little investment could return massive profits. is it ethical??? does china care


obviously SK doesn't with that kaesong industrial complex.


maybe china already has investments in NK north area??? can a Chinese friend help me out with that??

is China banks investing in NK?

Bank would be the last sector to be opened in NK, Chinese companies do have investments there in coal or mineral industry, but they keep very low profile.

probably because the Chinese don't accept fake American dollars and Meth as payment.


But seriously though, it's good that Obama can make me mad so often, with the retirement age so far off, and further still when it's my turn, probably would put me out of my misery faster.

Fake dollars made in the NK very famous, last time U.S. Financial guys came to my company warned us to carefully distinguish real and fake ones.

 

[AndrewJin]

Bank would be the last sector to be opened in NK, Chinese companies do have investments there in coal or mineral industry, but they keep very low profile.



Fake dollars made in the NK very famous, last time U.S. Financial guys came to my company warned us to carefully distinguish real and fake ones.

Your company has business with NK?

 

[rott]

probably because the Chinese don't accept fake American dollars and Meth as payment.


But seriously though, it's good that Obama can make me mad so often, with the retirement age so far off, and further still when it's my turn, probably would put me out of my misery faster.

Haha... You sound so much like AgentOrange.

 

[Aepsilons]

Wise decision by the Koreans.

 

[opruh]

No one wants to be left out, Obama is definitely getting agitated with these developments.

 

[cirr]

NK is probably the last place in the world where a vast amount of money can be made with a tiny amount of capital。

1st class human resources with lowest cost, discipline, dedication, hardworking spirit and all that....

If only the country opens up to the outside.......

Lots of Chinese capital are amassing at the border....

Lots of Korean Chinese are waiting for the go....

It has turned out to be an extremly long wait....

 

[yusheng]

Wise decision by the Koreans.

it is tipical Japanese multi-face show, funny to hear it, so you should say : "stupid decison by Japan" not to take part in with the jsut same excuse as the US has?

if it is not out of my expection, a long quibble will come.

 

[TaiShang]

Wise decision by the Koreans.

Japanese wariness toward AIIB irrational
By Bi Shihong (Global Times) 09:53, March 27, 2015

In mid-March, the UK took the lead in announcing its decision to participate in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), followed by others European countries such as Germany, France and Italy. Japan and Europe are increasingly divergent on joining theAIIB.

When Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last September, he underlined that the AIIB's assessment mechanism failed to fully comply with international criteria. He asked Modi, "Can the AIIB account for a project's environmental impact during the evaluation process?"

Aso urged New Delhi to dismiss the idea to join the AIIB. However, just two months later, India signed a memorandum for the creation of the new multilateral bank. Since then, developed countries have started considering joining the AIIB, making it incrementally difficult for Washington and Tokyo to maintain their dominance over Asian development finance.

The creation of the AIIB has been partly pushed by the US and Japan. China has been seeking a larger interest in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) but was turned down by the top two donors.

Tokyo has been shunning the AIIB because it thinks that no "fair" operations can be expected from Beijing's leading position in the bank. It worries that the AIIB will likely become a huge bank for China's export and import and the financial policies formulated by the World Bank and the ADB will be swayed. With more developed countries becomingfounding members of the bank, the dominant power of development finance in Asia willshift.

Japan also argues that the AIIB lacks attention to environmental protection, fundraising and financial sustainability, which may lead to a financial or a credit crisis in a short term. Last but not least, the US is quite prudent toward the AIIB and its close ally Japan has been acting as a loyal parrot.

The domino effect Washington has been worrying about has occurred. Once other G7 members announce plans to sign up for the AIIB, Japan will face a tough scenario. The government of Shinzo Abe will be confronted with increasing pressure from public opinion and many Japanese scholars and officials expect Tokyo to participate in the AIIB soon. Therefore, Abe's cabinet has to gradually change their attitude toward the bank.

According to Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei, the AIIB complements existing multilateral development banks and China will actively promote cooperation with the World Bank and the ADB in myriad spheres.

The AIIB will draw experience from the existing banks in governance structure, environment and social security policies and meanwhile circumvent existing obstacles in order to lower costs and improve efficiency.

This bank is an open and accommodating multilateral development institution and welcomes all countries with an interest. And the participation of major European powers shows that the AIIB is not a "tool" of China.

Japan has keenly felt the pressure from China's increasing military and economic strength in recent years, which could explain why it has become the last big Asian power left boycotting the AIIB. However, Tokyo admits that infrastructure is a prerequisite for national economic development and the ADB is unable to provide the needed funding. Focusing on investment in Asia's infrastructure development, the AIIB will offer enormous financial support for the growth of all Asian nations, which will inevitably bring huge business opportunities.

The AIIB is due to begin operations by the end of 2015. The AIIB needs to learn from the successful experiences of international multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank to avoid past mistakes and become a high-ranking bank.

China, as the AIIB's initiator and headquarter, should support it through self-improvement. This will also boost China's social development as a whole.

Japan's rejection of the AIIB is not a rational choice. It means it has given up some development opportunities. The joint objections by both the US and Japan will only taint their self-proclaimed leadership in international cooperation.

The author is a professor at the School of International Studies at Yunnan University.

 

[Aepsilons]

Japanese wariness toward AIIB irrational
By Bi Shihong (Global Times) 09:53, March 27, 2015

In mid-March, the UK took the lead in announcing its decision to participate in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), followed by others European countries such as Germany, France and Italy. Japan and Europe are increasingly divergent on joining theAIIB.

When Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last September, he underlined that the AIIB's assessment mechanism failed to fully comply with international criteria. He asked Modi, "Can the AIIB account for a project's environmental impact during the evaluation process?"

Aso urged New Delhi to dismiss the idea to join the AIIB. However, just two months later, India signed a memorandum for the creation of the new multilateral bank. Since then, developed countries have started considering joining the AIIB, making it incrementally difficult for Washington and Tokyo to maintain their dominance over Asian development finance.

The creation of the AIIB has been partly pushed by the US and Japan. China has been seeking a larger interest in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) but was turned down by the top two donors.

Tokyo has been shunning the AIIB because it thinks that no "fair" operations can be expected from Beijing's leading position in the bank. It worries that the AIIB will likely become a huge bank for China's export and import and the financial policies formulated by the World Bank and the ADB will be swayed. With more developed countries becomingfounding members of the bank, the dominant power of development finance in Asia willshift.

Japan also argues that the AIIB lacks attention to environmental protection, fundraising and financial sustainability, which may lead to a financial or a credit crisis in a short term. Last but not least, the US is quite prudent toward the AIIB and its close ally Japan has been acting as a loyal parrot.

The domino effect Washington has been worrying about has occurred. Once other G7 members announce plans to sign up for the AIIB, Japan will face a tough scenario. The government of Shinzo Abe will be confronted with increasing pressure from public opinion and many Japanese scholars and officials expect Tokyo to participate in the AIIB soon. Therefore, Abe's cabinet has to gradually change their attitude toward the bank.

According to Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei, the AIIB complements existing multilateral development banks and China will actively promote cooperation with the World Bank and the ADB in myriad spheres.

The AIIB will draw experience from the existing banks in governance structure, environment and social security policies and meanwhile circumvent existing obstacles in order to lower costs and improve efficiency.

This bank is an open and accommodating multilateral development institution and welcomes all countries with an interest. And the participation of major European powers shows that the AIIB is not a "tool" of China.

Japan has keenly felt the pressure from China's increasing military and economic strength in recent years, which could explain why it has become the last big Asian power left boycotting the AIIB. However, Tokyo admits that infrastructure is a prerequisite for national economic development and the ADB is unable to provide the needed funding. Focusing on investment in Asia's infrastructure development, the AIIB will offer enormous financial support for the growth of all Asian nations, which will inevitably bring huge business opportunities.

The AIIB is due to begin operations by the end of 2015. The AIIB needs to learn from the successful experiences of international multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank to avoid past mistakes and become a high-ranking bank.

China, as the AIIB's initiator and headquarter, should support it through self-improvement. This will also boost China's social development as a whole.

Japan's rejection of the AIIB is not a rational choice. It means it has given up some development opportunities. The joint objections by both the US and Japan will only taint their self-proclaimed leadership in international cooperation.

The author is a professor at the School of International Studies at Yunnan University.

This is my personal opinion: Japan must join the AIIB, and soon.