ABSTRACT
A first key factor shaping Korean foreign investment are trade barriers, notably antidumping measures, in the European Union and North America targeting Korean firms. In the analysis of the electronics and manufacturing industries, trade barriers appear to have a significant and substantial effect on the likelihood that Korean firms invest in manufacturing in the US or Europe (chapters 3 and 5). Although the automobile industry would appear as the odd one out because of the absence of trade restrictions in Europe and the US for Korean cars, these countries neither have received any major Korean automobile investment. 1 Instead, Korean firms have entered highly protected and less developed markets with positive growth prospects, by acquiring local firms and manufacturing for local markets still shielded from competition. All this confirms a strong positive correlation between trade barriers and Korean investments.
