ECN webinar: The outlook for Korean economy post-elections

Mr. Tae-shin Kwon has been Vice Chairman and CEO of the Federation of Korean Industries or the FKI since February 2017. He has also served as President of the Korea Economic Research Institute Since March 2014. He has built most of his career in the Korean government. From 2011 to 2013, he was Vice Chairman of the Presidential Council on National Competitiveness (PCNC), which was presided by the President himself, and played a leading role in discussing topics on enhancing national competitiveness. From 2009 to 2010, he served as the Minister of Government Policy Coordination. From 2006 to 2008, he served as Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Korea to the OECD, in Paris, right after he worked for the Ministry of Finance and Economy as Vice Minister from 2005 to 2006. Mr. Kwon received a BA degree from Seoul National University (1972), an MA degree in Economics from Vanderbilt University (1982) and an MBA degree from CASS Business School, UK (2001).

Takuji Okubo is the North Asia Director of The Economist Corporate Network, managing the Networks in Japan and in South Korea.

Prior to joining The Economist Group, Takuji was the Managing Director and Chief Economist at Japan Macro Advisors, serving global fortune 500 companies and financial institutions in Japan and abroad. In his past career, Takuji was a Chief Economist at Societe Generale, in charge of Japan and of South Korea, and a senior economist at Merrill Lynch and at Goldman Sachs. Outside his role at ECN, Takuji also serves as a non-executive director at Japan Risk Forum, an association of Chief Risk Officers among Japanese financial institutions.

Takuji holds B.A in Economics from Tokyo University and while at the university he was a recipient of prestigious INOUE scholarship. He holds MBA from INSEAD and Msc. In Economics from UPF in Barcelona. Apart from work, he enjoys motor-cycling, scuba-diving, cooking as well as worrying about the future of the Japanese economy.

Dimitry Rakin is the Associate Director of the Economist Corporate Network North Asia, where he is responsible for events planning, private briefings, data analysis and research in Japan and South Korea. He is an expert on Japanese economy, business and trade as well as on the history and politics of the East Asia region.

Prior to joining The Economist Group, Dimitry was a Senior Officer of Economic Affairs in the Trade Delegation Unit of the Russian Embassy in Japan connecting Russian and Japanese companies, promoting Russia as an investment destination and facilitating Russia-Japan intergovernmental negotiations on economic cooperation. He started his career as an editor covering East Asia in one of the biggest Russian news agencies (ITAR-TASS) working in the central office and Tokyo Bureau of the agency.

Dimitry has an MA degree in Japanese language and history from the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) and was also a Japanese government (MEXT) research scholar at Meiji University’s Graduate School of Law, Tokyo. In addition to native Russian language skills, he is fluent in English and Japanese.