About East Asia Brief
East Asia Brief explains what is changing in Korean, Chinese and Japanese industry — and what it means for companies and investors outside the region.
The problem we work on
Korea, China and Japan sit at the center of the supply chains that matter most right now: semiconductors and the memory that feeds AI servers, battery cells and cathode materials, industrial robotics, shipbuilding, and the critical minerals underneath all of it.
The information about those industries exists. It is just hard to use if you are sitting in Boston, Munich or Singapore. It is in three languages, spread across ministry notices, exchange filings, IR decks and statistical agencies, and it assumes local context a foreign reader does not have. That is an information asymmetry, not a shortage.
What we do about it
We read the primary material and write in English about what happened, why it matters, which companies are exposed, and what it means for a global supply chain. Every briefing is structured the same way, so you can compare a Korean development against a Chinese or Japanese one without doing the translation work yourself.
What we are not
We are not a translation service and we do not republish other outlets' articles. When another publication broke a story, we say so by name. Where a briefing rests on documents we can link, we link them; where it does not, we publish no sources list rather than one we cannot stand behind. Our methodology page sets out exactly how a briefing is built and what our confidence grades mean.
What we cover
Seven desks: Semiconductors & AI Hardware, Batteries & Electric Vehicles, Robotics & Automation, Shipbuilding & Defense, Energy & Critical Minerals, Trade & Industrial Policy, Analysis & Comparison. Each is broken out by South Korea, China, Japan and cross-border.
Five formats: Breaking (what was announced, confirmed against the primary source, fast); Why It Matters (what a development means for global investors, buyers and supply chains); Asia Compare (korea, china and japan measured against the same yardstick); Company Watch (capex, plants, m&a, earnings and policy exposure for the companies that matter); Policy Tracker (subsidies, tariffs, export controls and economic-security rules, tracked over time).
Who we are
East Asia Brief is an independent publication, founded in 2026. It is not owned by, funded by, or affiliated with any company, government or investor it writes about. The people who write our briefings are listed on the masthead.
How we make money
Reading EAB is free and supported by advertising. We are building paid products — industry briefs, company and policy monitoring, and a data feed — for readers who need this professionally. Advertisers have no involvement in what we cover, and no one outside the newsroom sees a briefing before publication.
Reach us
Tips, corrections and questions: editor@eastasiabrief.com. More on the contact page.