Category: Archived Events

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM EDT

Zoom Event

About the Event

In recent years, South Korea and the United States have stepped up their discussions and cooperation on economic security. Recognizing the vital importance of the semiconductor industry in particular, the two allies have made bolstering supply chain resilience in this sector a policy priority. In the wake of global semiconductor shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic, safeguarding these supply chains has been brought to the forefront of policy discussions in both countries. Underscoring the importance of semiconductors to the security of both countries, South Korea and the United States agreed to strengthen their strategic economic and technology partnership at the first Biden-Yoon summit in May 2022. The two allies have since sought to deepen and broaden cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, such as leading-edge semiconductors.

Two leading experts from the U.S. and Korea, respectively, will be joining us to discuss their national economic security strategy and industrial policy regarding the global semiconductor supply chain. The GW Institute for Korean Studies and the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy invite you to join us for an engaging discussion on this important topic.

Registered guests will receive a confirmation email with details for joining the virtual event.

This event is on the record and open to the public.

Speakers

YoungJa Bae is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Konkuk University. Dr. Bae received her Ph.D. in political science at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and serves on the policy advisory committee to the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and vice chairman of the Korean Association of International Studies. She was a visiting scholar at National Taiwan University under Taiwan Fellowship. Her main research interests include international politics and S&T, science diplomacy, and international political economy. Her major papers include “Regulations on Foreign Direct Investment and National Security,” “US-China competition and Science and Technology Innovation,” and “S&T Diplomacy as Public Diplomacy: Theoretical Understanding.”

Jisoo M. Kim is Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures. She currently serves as the Director of the Institute for Korean Studies and the Co-Director of the East Asia National Resource Center at GW. She also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Korean Studies. She is a specialist in gender, law, and emotions in Korean history. Her broader research interests include gender and sexuality, crime and justice, forensic medicine, literary representations of the law, history of emotions, vernacular, and gender writing. She is the author of The Emotions of Justice: Gender, Status, and Legal Performance in Chosŏn Korea (University of Washington Press, 2015), which was awarded the 2017 James Palais Prize of the Association for Asian Studies. She is also the co-editor of The Great East Asian War and the Birth of the Korean Nation by JaHyun Kim Haboush (Columbia University Press, 2016). She is currently working on a book project tentatively entitled Sexual Desire, Crime, and Gendered Subjects: A History of Adultery Law in Korea. She received her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University.

Hee Kwon Kyung is an Associate Research Fellow of KIET, Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade. His recent research focuses on the economic impacts and policy implications of the conflicts between the two major powers, namely the United States and People’s Republic of China, regarding semiconductor and advanced ICT Industry. Prior to joining KIET, Kyung received a PhD from Michigan State University and two BAs from Yonsei University. His dissertation tried a combination of applied econometrics and artificial intelligence methodologies including sentiment analysis, LASSO variants, random forests, and related inference techniques developed around 2019.

Lisa J. Porter is the Co-Founder and Co-President of LogiQ, Inc., a company providing high-end management, scientific, and technical consulting services. She was previously the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and in that role, she shared responsibility with the Under Secretary for the research, development, and prototyping activities across the Department of Defense. In prior roles she served as Executive Vice President of In-Q-Tel (IQT) and Director of IQT Labs, the President of Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, the first Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Associate Administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA, and as a program manager and senior scientist at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). She holds a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate in applied physics from Stanford University. She received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award, and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

Nick S. Vonortas is Professor of Economics and International Affairs at The George Washington University in Washington D.C. He is a faculty member of the Department of Economics, of the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy, and of the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration. He currently is Senior Associate Dean at the Elliott School of International Affairs. Nick also holds a ‘São Paulo Excellence Chair’ in Technology and Innovation Policy at the University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. His teaching and research interests are in industrial organization, in the economics of technological change, and in technology and innovation policy and strategy. He is editor of the peer-reviewed journal Science and Public Policy. Nick holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Economics from New York University (USA), a MA in Economic Development from Leicester University (UK), and a BA in Economics from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece).

Shahid Yusuf is Chief Economist of The Growth Dialogue at the George Washington University, School of Business in Washington DC; and a Non-Resident fellow of the Center for Global Development in Washington DC; Prior to joining the Growth Dialogue, he was on the staff of the World Bank. Dr. Yusuf has written extensively on development issues, urbanization, and technological change. His current areas of interest are supply chains and topics related to climate change with a focus on the East Asian region. Dr. Yusuf has authored or edited more than twenty-five books and has published widely in various academic journals.

Moderator

Yonho Kim is an Associate Research Professor of Practice and the Associate Director of GW Institute for Korean Studies. He specializes in North Korea’s mobile telecommunications and U.S. policy towards North Korea. Kim is the author of North Korean Phone Money: Airtime Transfers as a Precursor to Mobile Payment System (2020), North Korea’s Mobile Telecommunications and Private Transportation Services in the Kim Jong-un Era (2019) and Cell Phones in North Korea: Has North Korea Entered the Telecommunications Revolution? (2014). His research findings were covered by various media outlets, including Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Yonhap News, and Libération. Prior to joining GWIKS, he extensively interacted with the Washington policy circle on the Korean peninsula as Senior Researcher of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Senior Reporter for Voice of America’s Korean Service, and Assistant Director of the Atlantic Council’s Program on Korea in Transition. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in International Relations from Seoul National University, and an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Monday, June 20, 2022

8:00 PM – 9:30 PM EDT

Zoom Event

Recording [KOREAN VERSION]

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, North Korea has enforced one of the world’s most strict “Zero-COVID” policies. With its sealed borders and severely limited international trade, North Korea claimed for over two years that there were no positive COVID-19 cases in the country. While many doubted the veracity of these claims, North Korea was one of the last countries with no official reported cases. This all changed in May 2022 when state media officially confirmed that cases had indeed entered North Korea and that country was in the midst of an Omicron outbreak.

As North Korea now struggles to keep this new outbreak under control, many questions have arisen on the government’s capability to handle a public health crisis of this magnitude. How will North Korea react to this new outbreak and what does this mean for the political and economic stability of North Korea? We invite you to join the GW Institute for Korean Studies and the Korea Institute for National Unification for an online discussion on the impact of this latest crisis in North Korea.

Speakers

William B. Brown (Bill) is Chair of the North Korea Economic Forum at the GW Institute for Korean Studies (GWIKS). He is also principal of his consulting company, Northeast Asia Economics and Intelligence Advisory, LLC (NAEIA.com) and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Korea Economic Institute of America. He also teaches courses on Contemporary China for University of Maryland Global Campus. Brown served a career in the federal government, working as an economist and East Asia specialist at the Central Intelligence Agency, Commerce Department, and National Intelligence Council (NIC). At the NIC, he served as Senior Research Fellow for East Asia and as Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Economics. His most recent service was as Senior Advisor to the National Intelligence Manager for East Asia in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Mr. Brown’s research is focused on the North Korean and Chinese economies and he is widely quoted in national and Korean media, especially with Voice of America. His publications include “Money and Markets in North Korea,” an unclassified study for the National Intelligence Council, and the “Economics of Korean Unification” published by the Council of Foreign Relations.

Ken Gause is the Director of the Adversary Analytics Program at the CNA Corporation. His team is responsible for doing deep dive studies on the leadership/decision-making, armed forces, military doctrine, and capabilities of US adversaries. Mr. Gause began his career as a Sovietologist for the US government in the 1980s and has worked in think tanks since the late 1980s. He is a noted expert on North Korean leadership and is the author of several books on the topic.

Jea Hwan Hong is a Research Fellow of the North Korean Research Division at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU). He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Seoul National University. He served as the Director of the North Korean Research Division in 2021. Since 2016, he has researched the North Korean economy and inter-Korean economic cooperation at KINU. Major publications include North Korean Economy in the
Kim Jong-un Era: Economic Policy, Foreign Trade, and People’s Lives (2021, Co-author), Demographic Change in North Korea: Trends, Determinants, and Prospects (2020, Coauthor), Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation: Development Potential and Policy Implications (2019, Co-author), and Livelihoods in North Korea and Cooperation Plan (2018, Co-author) (all in Korean).

Jisoo M. Kim is Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures. She currently serves as the Director of the Institute for Korean Studies and the Co-Director of the East Asia National Resource Center at GW. She also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Korean Studies. She is a specialist in gender, law, and emotions in Korean history. Her broader research interests include gender and sexuality, crime and justice, forensic medicine, literary representations of the law, history of emotions, vernacular, and gender writing. She is the author of The Emotions of Justice: Gender, Status, and Legal Performance in Chosŏn Korea (University of Washington Press, 2015), which was awarded the 2017 James Palais Prize of the Association for Asian Studies. She is also the co-editor of The Great East Asian War and the Birth of the Korean Nation by JaHyun Kim Haboush (Columbia University Press, 2016). She is currently working on a book project tentatively entitled Sexual Desire, Crime, and Gendered Subjects: A History of Adultery Law in Korea. She received her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University.

Yu-hwan Koh is the 18th President of Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU). He earned a Ph.D. in political science from Dongguk University in 1991. As an expert in areas of unification, North Korea, and inter-Korean relations, he was a professor in the Department of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University (1994~2020), Director of Institute for North Korean Studies at Dongguk University (2009~2020), a visiting scholar of Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University (2010~2011), President of Korean Association of North Korean Studies (2012), Chair of the Peace and Prosperity Sub-committee of Presidential Commission on Policy Planning (2017~2019)/member (~2020), and a member of the experts advisory group for the inter-Korean summit (2018). Currently, he is the Chair of the Planning and Coordination Committee at National Unification Advisory Council (2017~), Chair of the Planning and Coordination Committee at National Unification Advisory Council (2017~), and Chair of the Korean Peninsula Sub-committee at Policy Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2018~). Major publications include Peace on the Road to Unification (2019) (in Korean), 70 Years of Division Viewed through the Lens of Inter-Korean Military Conflicts (2018) (in Korean), Actor-Network and Performativity of Divided Korea (2015) (in Korean), New Paradigm of North Korean Studies (2015) (in Korean), An Introduction to the Research of North Korean Cities (2012) (in Korean), Resolutions to North Korea’s Nuclear Issues and Establishment of a Peace Regime on the Korean Peninsula (2003) (in Korean), Troubled Transition: North Korea’s Politics, Economy, and External Relations (2013)(in English).

Rachel Minyoung Lee is the Regional Issues Manager and Senior Analyst for Open Nuclear Network (ONN), a program of One Earth Future, where she oversees the creation and development of ONN’s strategic network and works closely with the analytical team to identify strategies and products that can best meet the needs of partners and consumers. Rachel is also a Nonresident Fellow with the 38 North Program at the Stimson Center. She was a North Korea collection expert and analyst with the US Government from 2000 to 2019. During that time, she wrote on the gamut of North Korean issues, from leadership, domestic politics and economy, and foreign policy, to social and cultural developments. As Analysis Team Lead, Rachel led a team of collection officers and analysts to track and analyze North and South Korean issues with implications for Pyongyang’s regime stability and regional security.

Wootae Lee is a director of Humanitarian and Cooperation Research Division at Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU). He simultaneously serves as an advisor to Center for NK Human Rights Records, Ministry of Unification. His research interests include inter-Korean exchange and cooperation and foreign policy analysis. He earned his B.A. from Inha University, his M.A. from New York University, and his Ph.D. in Political Science from University of Georgia. Before joining KINU, he served a research professor at the Center for International Studies at Inha University, South Korea.

Moderator

Yonho Kim is an Associate Research Professor of Practice and the Associate Director of GW Institute for Korean Studies. He specializes in North Korea’s mobile telecommunications and U.S. policy towards North Korea. Kim is the author of North Korean Phone Money: Airtime Transfers as a Precursor to Mobile Payment System (2020), North Korea’s Mobile Telecommunications and Private Transportation Services in the Kim Jong-un Era (2019) and Cell Phones in North Korea: Has North Korea Entered the Telecommunications Revolution? (2014). His research findings were covered by various media outlets, including Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Yonhap News, and Libération. Prior to joining GWIKS, he extensively interacted with the Washington policy circle on the Korean peninsula as Senior Researcher of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Senior Reporter for Voice of America’s Korean Service, and Assistant Director of the Atlantic Council’s Program on Korea in Transition. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in International Relations from Seoul National University, and an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Korea Policy Forum

The First Biden-Yoon Summit: Conventional and Economic Security

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM EDT

Zoom Event

U.S. President Joseph Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will have their first summit meeting on May 21. With the conflict in Ukraine and U.S.-China relations facing a crucial point, the new Yoon government must navigate a new diplomatic and economic landscape in the regional and global contexts. Amid the uncertain international dynamics, North Korea’s recent tests of an advanced missile system and the potential for a new nuclear test pose an even greater challenge to the two allies. The upcoming U.S.-ROK summit will shed a light on the pressing need for a cooperative approach to these challenges. Please join the GW Institute for Korean Studies for an online discussion with experts who will be discussing views from the United States and South Korea on conventional and economic security for the alliance.

Registered guests will receive a confirmation email with details for joining the virtual event.

This event is on the record and open to the public.

Speakers

Gregg A. Brazinsky is Professor of History and International Affairs and Deputy Director of the Institute for Korean Studies at GW. He also serves as Director of the Asian Studies Program at the Elliott School of International Affairs. His research seeks to understand the diverse and multifaceted interactions among East Asian states and between Asia and the United States. He is the author of Nation Building in South Korea: Koreans, Americans, and the Making of a Democracy (University of North Carolina Press, 2007) and Winning the Third World: Sino-American Rivalry during the Cold War (University of North Carolina Press, 2017). He served as Interim Director of the GW Institute for Korean Studies during the Spring 2017 semester. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Du Hyeong Cha is a North Korea study expert who has completed various research projects on topics such as North Korean politics and military, U.S.-ROK alliance, and national crisis management. He is the Principal Fellow of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, holding an additional post as Visiting Professor at the Graduate Institute of Peace Studies at Kyung Hee University. He also has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Korean Studies (2017-2019), Senior Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Governor of Gyeonggi Provincial Government (2015-2018), Visiting Scholar at the Korea Institute for National Unification (2015-2017), and the Executive Vice President of the Korea Foundation (2011-2014). He was also a Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA, 1989-2012) and the Acting Secretary for Crisis Information to ROK President Lee Myung Bak (2008). He has worked for more than 20 years at KIDA in various positions including Director of the Defense Issues Task Force (2005-2006), Director of Arms Control Research (2007), and Director of North Korea Studies (2009). Dr. Cha received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Yonsei University. He has written more than 100 research papers and co-authored books on diverse fields of security and international relations. He has advised for various governmental organizations.

Seonjou Kang is a Professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy-Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (KNDA-IFANS). Her research centers on rules-based international order/global governance, geo-economics of Asian regionalism, and middle power diplomacy. Her widely cited in-house papers include “G7 Summit 2021 and the Post-Pandemic International Order,” “Global Response to COVID-19: Politicization of Infectious Diseases and Decline of Global Cooperation,” “U.S.-China Competition for Monetary Finance Hegemony,” “The U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy as Geo-economics,” “U.S. President-Elect Trump’s Foreign Economic Policies: Their Feasibility and Implications,” “Two-Year Performance Assessment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: China’s Economic Statecraft or a Multilateral Development Bank?”. She also published academic research in Korean Journal of International Studies (2020, 2015), European Journal of Political Research (2007), The Journal of Politics (2005), and Journal of Peace Research (2004). She received her Ph.D. in political science from Michigan State University in 2000. Her other degrees are a B.A. in international relations and an M.A. in political science both from Seoul National University in Korea.

Heung-Kyu Kim is the founder and Director of U.S.-China Policy Institute and professor in the Department of Political Science at Ajou University. He also served as a professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His current assignments include Policy Advisory Board Member for the Ministry of National Defense and ROK Army and Chairman of the Foreign Ministry’s Reform Commission. He also served as Director of Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Presidential Commission on Policy Planning, Team Leader of Security and Defense in the Presidential Task Force of Future Vision 2045, a board member of the National Security Council and a board member of National Defense Reform Commission. Dr. Kim’s publications include China and the U.S.-ROK Alliance: Promoting a Trilateral Dialogue (CFR, 2017), Enemy, Homager or Equal Partner?: Evolving Korea-China Relations (2012), From a Buffer Zone to a Strategic Burden: Evolving Sino-North Korea Relations during Hu Jintao Era (2010). His book China’s Central-Local Relations and Decision-Making received an award for Excellency of the Year by the Ministry of Culture in 2008. He also received the NEAR Foundation Academic prize of the year in the area of foreign policy and security in 2014. Kim received his BA and MA in international relations from Seoul National University and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

Jisoo M. Kim is Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures. She currently serves as the Director of the Institute for Korean Studies and the Co-Director of the East Asia National Resource Center at GW. She also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Korean Studies. She is a specialist in gender, law, and emotions in Korean history. Her broader research interests include gender and sexuality, crime and justice, forensic medicine, literary representations of the law, history of emotions, vernacular, and gender writing. She is the author of The Emotions of Justice: Gender, Status, and Legal Performance in Chosŏn Korea (University of Washington Press, 2015), which was awarded the 2017 James Palais Prize of the Association for Asian Studies. She is also the co-editor of The Great East Asian War and the Birth of the Korean Nation by JaHyun Kim Haboush (Columbia University Press, 2016). She is currently working on a book project tentatively entitled Sexual Desire, Crime, and Gendered Subjects: A History of Adultery Law in Korea. She received her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University.

Tami Overby is President of Asia Pathfinders where she advises clients on Asia and trade matters, with a particular focus on Korea. Ms. Overby has over three decades of Asia work, including 21 years living and working in Seoul. Her most recent experiences include four years with McLarty Associates and eight years leading the US Chamber of Commerce’s Asia team while also serving as President of the US Korea Business Council. Ms. Overby’s extensive experience helps American companies compete and prosper in Asia. She worked on the TransPacific Partnership FTA, APEC and the KORUS FTA. Ms. Overby’s extensive Asia experience includes working on both high-profile trade disputes with our government and our Asian trade partners as well on market access and investment issues throughout the region. Ms. Overby sits on the board of The Korea Society as well as the Korea Economic Institute’s Advisory Council and the US-Asia Institute. She received her BS in Business Administration and Management from the University of Arkansas.

Moderator

Yonho Kim is an Associate Research Professor of Practice and the Associate Director of GW Institute for Korean Studies. He specializes in North Korea’s mobile telecommunications and U.S. policy towards North Korea. Kim is the author of North Korean Phone Money: Airtime Transfers as a Precursor to Mobile Payment System (2020), North Korea’s Mobile Telecommunications and Private Transportation Services in the Kim Jong-un Era (2019) and Cell Phones in North Korea: Has North Korea Entered the Telecommunications Revolution? (2014). His research findings were covered by various media outlets, including Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Yonhap News, and Libération. Prior to joining GWIKS, he extensively interacted with the Washington policy circle on the Korean peninsula as Senior Researcher of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Senior Reporter for Voice of America’s Korean Service, and Assistant Director of the Atlantic Council’s Program on Korea in Transition. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in International Relations from Seoul National University, and an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.