M-RCBG Senior Fellow-Led Study Group: Han-koo Yeo
Tuesday, November 12, 3:00-4:30pm L-382 Kahn
The United States enacted the CHIPS and Science Act and massive subsidy programs in 2022. China, the E.U., Japan, Korea and Taiwan are following suit to enhance their manufacturing capacity and get ahead in fierce competition to advance cutting-edge technologies. Moreover, the U.S. is enforcing export controls and outbound investment restrictions in semiconductors, AI and quantum computing under the so called “small yard, high fence” principle. How are these U.S. policies having a “cascade effect” in the semiconductor supply chains in the Indo-Pacific? What are the lessons to be learned for an incoming U.S. administration and other governments?
Mr. Han-Koo Yeo, senior fellow at M-RCBG and the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former trade minister of the Republic of Korea, will lead the discussion with Professor Chris Miller, the author of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology , visiting scholar at M-RCBG and professor at Tufts University; and Mr. Nick Montella, Director, Global Government Affairs at TSMC.
This study group / discussion is open to all HUID holders. Registration is not necessary.
M-RCBG welcomes individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs. To request accommodations or ask questions about access provided, please email: mrcbg@hks.harvard.edu
Han-koo Yeo, former trade minister of the Republic of Korea, has been senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since June 2023. His research focuses on international trade policy, industrial policy, supply chain resilience, and economic security and international trade negotiations including the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Yeo completed almost three decades of public service as trade minister of the Republic of Korea in 2022, in the final year of the Moon Jae-in presidency. A veteran international trade negotiator, Yeo has been involved in a number of bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations, including as the chief negotiator for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Korea-UK Free Trade Agreement, Korea–Central America Free Trade Agreement, Korea-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, and Korea-Philippines Free Trade Agreement. He was also an original participant in developing the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity. While serving as commercial attaché at the Korean Embassy in Washington, he was involved in amendment negotiations of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement and Section 232 steel negotiations. As Korean minister of trade, he oversaw conventional trade negotiations, export controls, and investment screening. Yeo also led negotiations for Korea's export control measures against Russia in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A graduate of Seoul National University, Yeo has served as visiting professor at the Seoul National University Business School, teaching international trade, negotiation, and economic security issues. Yeo holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School. Yeo’s research project at the M-RCBG will focus on analyzing how US economic security, trade and industrial policy affects trade patterns, FDI flows, supply chains and the industrial landscape in the Indo-Pacific and providing policy recommendations for the U.S. and other countries for their trade and industrial policy. His faculty sponsor is Robert Lawrence, Albert L. Williams Professor of International Trade and Investment at Harvard Kennedy School. Email: hyeo@hks.harvard.edu