Event Summaries – Page 4 – GW Institute for Korean Studies

Korea Policy Forum “U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Relations in the Biden Era”

June 3, 2021August 5, 2021Event Summaries, Korea Policy ForumLeave a Comment

On March 17^th, 2021, the GW Institute for Korea Studies (GWIKS) and the East Asia National Resource Center co-sponsored the Korea Policy Forum on “U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Relations in the Biden Era”. Moderated by Celeste Arrington, Korean Foundation Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at GW, this forum features three experts: Seong-ho Sheen, a Professor of International Security, and Director of International Security Center at Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS), Seoul National University (SNU), Shihoko Goto, the Deputy Director for Geoeconomics and Senior Northeast Asia Associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Asia Program, and Gregg A. Brazinsky, a Professor of History and International Affairs and Deputy Director of GW Institute for Korean Studies.

Professor Sheen started the discussion with the Biden Administration’s consideration of Korea and Japan as important allies to the United States. He further stated that the military burden-sharing agreement has finally been resolved under Biden’s administration. The next speaker, Shihoko Goto, discussed Secretaries Blinken and Austin’s trips to Northeast Asia, specifically with regards to the bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea and prospects for the Japan-U.S.-Korea trilateral relations. Professor Brazinsky commented about Japanese Revisionism as a threat to the U.S. National Security. He further discussed why we should be concerned about how the Japanese interpret their history and how it might affect U.S. policymakers. Following his presentation, the moderator moved onto a Q&A session. The audience submitted a wide range of questions such as the outcomes of Secretaries Blinken and Austin’s visit to Seoul and Japan ahead of the Biden Administration’s full-policy on East Asia, the multiple sanctions signed on the treatment of Uyghurs, opinions on reaffirmation of China-DPRK relations, potential areas of economic cooperation among Japan, Korea and the United States, etc.

Panel Discussion: Korean Soft Power Influence in Southeast Asia

May 26, 2021August 5, 2021Event SummariesLeave a Comment

On March 17^th, 2021, the GW Institute of Korea Studies (GWIKS) hosted a panel discussion on Korean Soft Power Influence in Southeast Asia. This panel features three eminent Korean experts- Kamon Butsaban, Faculty of Arts at Chulalongkorn University, Duy Tan La, Lecturer in the University of Social Science and Humanities-Vietnam National University, and Hiền Nguyễn Thị, Professor of Korean Studies at the Vietnam National University. The event discussant was Shawn McHale, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs and the moderator was Gregg A. Branzinsky, Professor of History and International Affairs and Deputy Directors of GWIKS.

The panel was started by Prof. Thị’s talk about the history of literature exchange between Vietnam and Korea. She stated that since 1990 there has been an increase of Korean centers in Vietnam due to the influence of the Korean Wave (Hallyu) from drama to K-Pop. The second panelist, Prof. Butsaban, discussed the impact of the Korean Wave in Thailand. He stated that the friendship between Thailand and Korea started during the Korean War and diplomatic relations started in 1958. The third panelist Professor La presented about Korea’s soft power in Vietnam. He stated that during the first Korean wave Korean drama and films were introduced and during the second phase of the Korean wave, the Vietnamese people were exposed to Korean culture such as K-pop. Professor McHale commented about the complexity of the Korea-Southeast Asia relationships. Following the presentations, the moderator moved onto a Q&A session. The audience submitted a wide range of questions, including how other Southeast Asian countries can learn from Thailand about developing cultural exchanges, the South Korean troops who fought in Vietnam, and areas that Korea needs improvement such as politics, entertainment, education, etc.

Book Talk Series on Chosŏn Korea, “Vernacular Eloquence of Chosŏn Korea Beyond the Korean Scripture”

May 21, 2021August 5, 2021Book Talk Series on Chosŏn Korea, Event SummariesLeave a Comment

On March 11, 2021, the GW Institute of Korea Studies (GWIKS) hosted the first Book Talk Series on Chosŏn Korea Vernacular Eloquence of Chosŏn Korea Beyond the Korean Script. In this presentation, Si Nae Park, Associate Professor of east Asian Language and Civilizations Harvard University, introduces her book The Korean Vernacular Story: Telling Tales of Contemporary Chosŏn in Sinographic Writing, the first book in the English language on the late Chosŏn literary genre of yadam. Moderated by Professor Jisoo Kim, Director of GWIKS, Prof. Park started her presentation by introducing her book’s argument and the context around it. She stated that in the Korean Literature the word “vernacular” is intimately and convolutedly tied up with the Korean script. Prof. Park’s primary goal is to help rethink the persistent misconception about Korean literature. She does this by discussing the yadam genre, which is a prime example of a type of vernacular eloquence.

Next, Prof. Park discusses the book’s implication as a research project that extricates the genre of yadam from the nation-centered literary historiography (kungmunhak) of the 20th century and puts forward a need to consider vernacular eloquence beyond the Korean script and script-focused linguistic nationalism. Following her presentation, the moderator moved onto a Q&A session. The audience submitted a wide range of questions, inquiring about the relevant themes in yadam and how it reflects Korean nationalist spirit, the role of low-level clerks in producing yadam text, comparing yadam text to other Korean texts, resources for translating yadam text into Russian literature, the prevalence of metatextuality in vernacular stories, and more. Answering these questions, Prof. Park highlighted some of the common themes such as status of awareness, soul as an urban space, anecdotes on famous historical people, war stories, etc. She also stated that by the 19^th-century the volume and scope of literature increased comprehensively.

Soh Jaipil Lecture Series, “State of Grace: The North Korean-Built Angkor Panorama Museum in Light of DPRK-Cambodian Cultural Relations”

March 1, 2021August 5, 2021Event Summaries, Soh Jaipil Lecture SeriesLeave a Comment

On February 18, Douglas Gabriel the Korea Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the GW Institute of Korean Studies gave a lecture on the “State of Grace: The North Korean-Built Angkor Panorama Museum in Light of DPRK-Cambodian Cultural Relations,” diving into the North Korea’s cultural relationship with Cambodia. Moderated by Immanuel Kim, the Korea Foundation and Kim-Renaud Associate Professor of Korean Literature and Culture Studies in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at the George Washington University, the event included lecture and live interaction sessions.

Cambodia, known for its Angkor Wat and Khmer Rouge, Dr. Gabriel introduced us to art of North in Cambodia. The Angkor Panorama Museum, located within the Angkor Archeological Park, was built by the Mansudae Overseas Project from North Korea. While the museum questionably closed only after four years since its opening, there are much to learn about the culture and relationship between Cambodia and North Korea from the museum.

Mansudae Art Studio located in North Korea, manages all of the country’s art projects and art exports. North Korea has left its footprint in Senegal, Sudan, Madagascar, Tanzania, Namibia and more through the Mansudae Art Project. Mostly boastfully presenting North Korea and its authority through the monumental statues and buildings, Mansudae has maintained its unique neo-classical architecture style. The Angkor Panorama Museum, however, does not portray any of North Korea’s culture or history. Uniquely, the museum was built on brotherly relationship between Kim Il-Sung and Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk who shared the anti-imperialist ideology. The two shared close relationship, recognizing each other’s countries as nation-states. North Korea had financed the museum and accepted the request to build the museum in local content and to include Cambodia’s history and culture instead of those of North Korea.

Inside the museum it leads the visitors to walk through a windy hallways to a panorama room which begins with Cambodians fighting against imperialism to find liberty, then the process of rebuilding the country, and finally ends with a message that shows Cambodia’s prosperity along with the successfully built Angkor Wat.

Furthermore, Dr. Gabriel touched on Sihanouk living in exile in North Korea under Kim Il-Sung’s hospitality. Kim built an enormous resident outside of Pyongyang, with a mixture of Korea and Cambodia’s architect style, just for Sihanouk. During his time in North Korea, Sihanouk filmed a movie in Korean language with North Korean casts, and yet including Cambodian tradition and culture, and containing the message of anti-imperialism. In addition, Sihanouk expanded his artistic skills into music by composing and creating a music album on the theme of friendship with other socialists countries.

Mansudae’s unusual project of promoting the host countries’ tradition and history and Sihanouk’s North Korean movie and friendship-promoting songs, presents North Korea and Cambodia’s strong cultural relationship.

After Dr. Gabriel’s lecture followed a live interaction session in which audiences were able to share their experience and analysis from the museum. The event was very successful attracting viewers from the US, South Korea, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Norway, Russian Federation, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Soh Jaipil Lecture Series, “Dictator’s Modernity Dilemma: Development and Democracy in South Korea, 1961-1987.”

February 3, 2021August 5, 2021Event Summaries, Soh Jaipil Lecture SeriesLeave a Comment

On January 25th, GWIKS hosted a webinar as part of their Soh Jaipil Lecture Series and was joined by guest speaker Dr. Joan Cho, professor of East Asian Studies and Government from Wesleyan University. Dr. Cho discusses, her book manuscript, “Dictator’s Modernity: Development and Democracy in South Korea, 1961 – 1987.” Reflecting back on the pro-war period, Dr. Cho walks us through a reexamination of the democratization process of Korea and the economic industrialization to come out of it into the modern era.

Korean Democratization: The “Dream Case.”

In reviewing the overall positive progression of South Korea’s rise to democratic governance and economic stability, Dr. Cho urges us to rethink and reanalyses the case of South Korea’s democratization that has been coded as an overall “dream case” of success due to its linear progression since the 1960s. On a national level, most of the evidence evaluating South Korea’s democratization is supportive of the theory of democratization, which states that as states become more industrialize and experience economic prosperity, they become more democratized in their governance and policy. When looking at this case on a sub-national level, however, we actually see variations that suggest that both the economic development and democratization process were temporal and not as parallel in progression as one would think:

Major economic development was focused on benefiting the wealthy and influential people of status and government.

Coming out of the Korean War, President Park Chung Hee put a heavy emphasis on an “Economy First” policy that primarily focused on economic development taking precedent over political progression during authoritarian rule. With this came Export Oriented Industrial Strategy that was put into place to help facilitate South Korea’s economic development that carried on throughout Presidencies.

First five years of this strategy was dedicated to Light Manufacturing as part of 1960’s export plan. Next five years covered the emergence of HCI drives with the development of chaebols, or large industrial conglomerates such as Hyudai and Samsung.

These strategies relied on many domestic resources, prompting the development of Industrial Complexes (ICs) across the peninsula. In the 1960s this would start out as inland cities and slowly progress out to coastal areas in the 1970s with the heavy chemical industrial drive. Finally, in the ’80s other arenas lacking their own Industrial complexes gained developments to make up for the uneven distribution of industrialization in addition to pressures faced by the Labor Movement.

Those who supported regime change to democracy were those within urban settings of the country as much of the rural inhabitants supported the ruling regime at the time.

Those who lived closer to the Industrial Complexes became more supportive of the ruling regime as economic growth diffused political discontent and allowed the regime to buy legitimacy through economic progression. However, these effects would be temporary and became weaker and smaller progressively, as support only seemed to grow during the appointment of a new IC and not during the development nor completion of one with an area.

The working class in the short term were supportive of the ruling regime under the propaganda that those who contributed to the economic growth through laboring within these factories and IC’s were the “pillar and warriors” of South Korea’s modernization movement, as quoted by President Park. The long term effect would inevitably result in the gradual rise of labor disputes and discontent as Park’s rule became more authoritarian in the 1970s. Park began taking a domestic security approach of labor exclusion and repression against the working class as time progressed to continue maximizing economic development despite grievances becoming more prevalent. This includes:

– Suspending workers’ rights to bargain collectively and to engage in collective action

– Reconfiguring the Union structure from industrial to an enterprise union system

– And increased reliance on security forces (police, military, and KCIA) to keep order and labor under control.

Pro-Democratic protests were concentrated in a few cities, mainly in or around Seoul, with nationwide protests not kicking off until 1987.

The long term effects of it all would lead to the first nationwide protest and the largest protest to encapsulate the Labor Movement and the “Great Work’s Struggle,” to come in 1987 were 1.28 million workers ( a third of Korea’s working class) from the peninsula’s most prominent industrials (mining, transportation, service, and manufacturing). These works took to the streets to demand not only demand economic equality throughout the country but also demand a democratized workplace to liquidate state-corporate unions and allow democratic and independent unions to exist on behalf of the workers’ safety and wellbeing.

Through closer examining this case on a deeper level, Dr. Cho’s examined the finite and historical details of how economic development through industrialization impacted the process of democratization, mainly the durability of the authoritarian regime of time. The authoritarian industrial policies that were implemented created a centralized pattern of industrialization that was concentrated, to be used as mediators to labor activism, resulting in the organization and politicization of workers to bring about economic growth and democratization close together. This overall analysis not only expands the perceptions of South Korea’s democratization story but also shows that democratization is not a linear process, with ups and downs that require action to ensure it continues through the fine line of authoritarian to the democratic transition of a state.

Soh Jaipil Lecture Series “Fighting Evictions in the Speculative City: The Politics of Class and Solidarity for Tenant Shopkeepers in Seoul”

January 26, 2021August 5, 2021Event Summaries, Soh Jaipil Lecture SeriesLeave a Comment

On Wednesday, January 13th, GWIKS hosted their first Soh Jaipil Lecture Series webinar of 2021, joined by Guest Speaker Yewon Andrea Lee to discuss the socioeconomic politics behind tenant shopkeeper protests in Seoul. In sharing her research, Dr. Lee aims to bring awareness to the ongoing political movement characterized by the dilemma between tenant shopkeepers and property owners over the disproportionate value of the working-class over the real estate investors. This is a divide that paints the picture of gentrification that is happening in Seoul against the benefits brought upon by these small shopkeepers in the form of culture, diversity, and inclusivity for the sake of capitalistic greed.

Utilizing archival research and engaging in interviews through collaboration with “People who Want to Run a Commerical Business with Peace of Mind” or Mam-Sang-Mo, Dr. Lee describes some of her findings in her efforts to bring attention to this exclusive practice. These finds are divided into three categories: (1) Sweat Equity Expropriation, (2) Occupying Living Spaces, (3) Solidarity with the City’s Social Movement Actors.

Sweat Equity Expropriation

The confrontation that is happening between the tenant shopkeepers and the property owners has been characterized as “Sweat Equity Expropriation.” One fourth (1/4) of South Korea’s working class made up of self-employed workers, and of that fraction, individuals generally make 60% of what the average income a wage working in Korea would make, is generally comprised of the low skilled and low educated population of South Korea, as well as those who go beyond retirement to keep working because they require the funds. These individuals are tenants within the property complexes and are establishing shops within neighborhoods in Seoul that are increasing the property value and prosperity of these neighborhoods due to the culture, inclusivity, popularity, and business they bring to the area. Property owners are exploiting these benefits to expand rent within the land that they own and are choosing to buy out and evict these businesses within the space that has become popular thanks to the presence of these tenant shops, to the protest of the shopkeepers who are the contributors to these expansions yet cannot afford pay the rent hikes that come out of this expansion scenario.

Many Tenant Shopkeepers have demanded policy changes in the form of stricter commercial rent control, as well as demanding the right to have secured compensation for their contributions to the property they were residents of before they are evicted, as rightful contributors to the increase of property value to these areas. This dilemma has manifested into politics and protests taking form in the process of Occupying livelihood spaces.

Occupying Livelihood Spaces

In an effort to have their concerns and voices heard in response to their forced and coerced evictions, many of the Tenant Shopkeepers have occupied their shops and physically resist the property owners in an effort to gain power against them and bring awareness to their struggles. It is through the violent confrontation that the emotions and the issue at hand become one that many people can empathize with as these force evictions are erasing the time and labor these individuals have put into their shops for the greed of the property owners looking to further advance their real estate. What policy measures that have taken shape thus far has primarily focused on settling the grievances of the Tenant Shopkeepers and not directly tackling the issue of the Property owners themselves who are pushing them out. As the issue has gained increasing amounts of attention and awareness, Tenant Shopkeepers have become to work in Solidarity with Seoul’s Social Movement Actors.

Solidarity with the City’s Social Movement Actors

Seoul, being a big city, is home to a large network of progressive social movements and activists that have connected with organizations like Mam-Sang-Mo to help the Tenant Shopkeepers in a unique opportunity that has further exposed their dilemma to the wider public. Many of these Shopkeepers, given their backgrounds, come from an older generation and have not entirely been exposed to the positive aspects of progressive movements compared to the younger generation. Recognizing the message behind the Sweat Equity Expropriation and imploying occupying tactics that provide a venue for these actors to participate in the protests against evictions. In forming this unity and working together in protest of their eviction, they form a new foundation of support and solidarity that keeps their fight going and gives them a voice, protection, and opportunity to gain the rights they deserve against the Property owners.

The solidary created in this movement has further honed and expressed the messaging behind this struggle in addition to creating a collective identity of the Tenant Shopkeepers. Tenant shopkeepers are seeing themselves as part of the working class that is emerging through this movement, and in working with the social movement actors they are changing and growing into a larger, positive force that can bring change to these gentrifying communities.

North Korea Economic Forum, “Assessing North Korea’s Financial ‘Reform’ Measures: Mobilizing Domestic Financial Resources and Sanctions.”

December 23, 2020August 5, 2021Event Summaries, North Korea Economic ForumLeave a Comment

On December 17th, GWIKS hosted a special North Korea Economic Forum, discussing North Korea’s financial reform measures in the face of economic crisis and international sanctions. Moderated by Assistant Director Yonho Kim, Guest Speaker Dr. Moon-Soo Yang join GWIKS to break down North Korea’s financial evolutions and adaptations through a series of challenges.

The traditional financial system of North consists of a Monobank universal banking system. This is composed mainly of the Chosun Central Bank and the Chosun Trade Bank, in addition to the Foreign Exchange Bank and Joint Venture Bank.

After the financial crisis of the 1990’s, a number of changes came about in response to a dwindling economy. First, was the paralysis of the financial system and the destruction of money circulation. In the traditional system, the Central Bank provided funds to State-run Firms who would provide funds to the Residents of the country where the money would circulate between residents, the general market, and the State-run stores where the funds would cycle back to the Central Bank. Due to the degree of the economic hardships to follow, the circulation of monetary funds was changed, as the State-Run stores could not provide the daily necessities needed for Residents, forcing them to spend funds in the general market, thus cutting off the Banks monetary system. Citizens started to avoid depositing funds into banks because they did not have the money to retain them or give them back.

Second, there was the development of private finance. Private finance, an informal financial market to the socialist system, was popularized to offset the paralysis of the public finance and marketization during the crisis. Instead of obtaining their monetary funds from the government, residents, state-owned firms, and cooperations who participated in the private market received funds from wealthy individuals, called “donju”, and private banks. These exchanges were separated into three markets, (1) Personal-to-personal finance, (2) Individual-to-Company finance, and (3) Bank-to-Business finance.

A combination of both circumstances lead to the instability of Market Prices and Exchange rates, as inflation began to increase as a result of the money produced from the private sector, despite the fact that economic hardship of the public sector left the state with no funds at all, minimizing the value of the North Korea won year after year in its global market value.

The Kim Jung-Un era would bring about a number of key ‘financial reform’ measures to deal with these issues. The first revision would focus on changes in the banking sector. This took shape in the form of revising banking legislation through the Central Bank Act and Commercial Bank Act; reorganizing the banking structure with the introduction of a two-tier banking system with commercial banks; the reorganization of the roles that banks play in the public market as the middle man between the state and residents in accordance to new legislation; and the introduction of news systems and profit systems to help monitor the way banks operate of time as well as making banks independent.

Second, there was a revision to the enterprise sector, permitting State-run firms the liberty to obtain loans from individuals as well as the ability to open cash accounts and foreign currency accounts for residents. The local sector saw adjustments that help to regulate the expenditures of funds as well as self-sustainment. This came through the establishment of a regional budget payment system and the introduction of local budget systems in accordance with the 2012 Local Budget Act that was passed. The commercial sector saw reforms in accordance with new legislation as well, which helped restore the monetary cycle back to state-run stores by matching the state-run prices to the prices found on the market to stimulate the state economy. Perhaps the biggest change to come was measures introduced to the residents of North Korea. Resident were incentivized to participate in the domestic market by depositing money into North Korean banks and spending money in the commercial market with the introduction of two new bank cards: the pre-paid card in 2010 and the debit card in 2015.

These financial ‘reforms’ to come out of the Kim Jong-Un era strengthened the link between national finance and banking systems. The expectation of these reforms was that it would not only restore monetary circulation in North Korea but also stimulate the recovery of the public financial system and reduce the burden of financial expenditures by the central government by providing middle-men and infrastructure for self-sustainability. In reality, the final outcome of these reforms will be dependent on whether the individual economic variables (banks, firms, residents, Donju, etc.) will work as the state intends as a part of their efforts of indirect control of the economy or if they will find other ways to maneuver the government to sustain themselves. Additionally, there are still issues within the North Korean economy that are still unsolved due to institutional limitations that restrict the degree by which the government can implement new changes to correct them. A general distrust of the state bank system is still prevalent in North Korea, and the government is still working to re-establish that trust as time progresses.

GWIKS Special Talk, “One Left: A Powerful Tale of Trauma and Endurance that Transformed a Nation’s Understanding of Korean Comfort Women.”

December 16, 2020August 5, 2021Event Summaries, GWIKS Special Talk SeriesLeave a Comment

On December 14th, 2020, GWIKS hosted a special book talk with translators Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton about their latest work, One Left, originally written by Kim Soom, which discusses the topic of Korean comfort women in World War II captured for the first time through a Korean narrative.

To start with some background on how the couple came upon the book and why it had taken so long — 75 years — for a novel like this to be written. During his time as a professor teaching modern Korean literature, Bruce Fulton found dedicate a day to teach about the Korean War. What was curious to him during that time was that he could not find much literature that talked about the experience of the war during the time of the war; a majority of the works that had been published highlighted the circumstances of the war only after the fact. This led to him questioning why this was the case, and ultimately he was led to the answer being that it was just too painful to document and revisit. This would lead him and his wife Ju-chan to focus their attention on translating works of fiction in English about the war that involved trauma, in hopes of helping readers both in Korea and outside of Korea to understand the stereotype of why Korean fiction is considered somber with a new lens of empathy.

This eventually led the couple to translate One Left by Kim Soom. Ju-Chan described Kim Soom as a workhorse, having written 19 novels within the past decade and having a unique writing style that is very fast but also very detailed in its research and narrative. One Left would be her first novel published in English, sprouted after three other books written in Korean regarding comfort women, as Kim Soom took directly to answering the question, “Who is going to tell the stories of these women once they have passed away?” The writing process of the novel was stressful on Kim Soom in its own right, but the goal of continuing to tell their stories to new audiences and new generations was undoubtedly worth it.

What the Fultons found to be the brilliance of this novel was the fact that author Kim Soom worked diligently to research the testimonies of the surviving women affected by this tragedy and was able to create a narrative based solely on the voices of these women. This is not only a novel that captures the story of Korean Comfort women through the eyes of its victims but was also published by a Korean woman who showed dedication to telling the story of their legacies in a detailed, engaging manner. The novel follows the story of our unnamed protagonist through reflections of her past traumas and her present-day experience as the “One Left”, the last of the comfort women. Through this emotional journey of losing herself and reclaiming her name, her identity, the reader begins to understand in reading this experience that this is not the story of just the “One Left”, but rather, the story of hundreds of girls who had to endure this atrocity after being taken from their ancestry homes during the war period.

The message that Kim Soom left with this book is when reading One Left and other stories are to think of these individuals as if they were your mother, your sister, or your neighbor. Try your best to remove the shame from this experience and allow them to tell their stories that need to be heard.

Korea Policy Forum Virtual Roundtable Discussion “Prospects for U.S.-China Strategic Rivalry and U.S.-ROK Relations under the Biden Administration” Summary

December 11, 2020August 5, 2021Event Summaries, Korea Policy ForumLeave a Comment

On December 9th, 2020, the GW Institute for Korea (GWIKS) and the East Asia National Resource Center, and Ajou University U.S.-China Policy Institute co-sponsored the Korea Policy Forum Roundtable Discussion on “Prospects for U.S.-China Strategic Rivalry and U.S.-ROK Relations under the Biden Administration.” The experts virtually gathered from the US and Korea and engaged in a two-session discussion to discuss how the Biden administration will change the US-China and US-ROK relations.

‘Multilateral engagement’ was the most commonly used term by the panelists. The panelists agreed that a multilateral approach will be necessary when the US tries to advance the relationship with China or South Korea. As the Biden administration is expected to pursue regional cooperation, Frank Jannuzi, President and Chief Executive Officer, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, underscored that the US should cautious to not approach China with antagonism and instead build a rule-based relationship. While other panelists raised questions on the details of the rules and who would create the rules, Mr. Jannuzi stated that for now, it is important that we have China join the rule-based relationship and at least follow the atmosphere of those rules.

Adding on other panelists’ arguments and questions, Sang Hyun Lee, Senior Research Fellow, Sejong Institute, asked about the possibility of enforcing a rule-based order without antagonizing China. Additionally, he asked what kind of insurance policy could be offered by the US when China’s retaliation is processed to other third-party participants of the rule-based relationship. As panelists also mentioned North Korea in terms of the US-China relations, Ambassador Joseph Yun, Senior Advisor, U.S. Institute of Peace, Former U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy, pinpointed that the US-China and the US-ROK relations may look like two separate bilateral relationships but in reality are connected.

Heung-Kyu Kim, Director, U.S.-China Policy Institute, Ajou University, then opened the next session to discuss the prospects of the US-ROK relations. Jina Kim, Research Fellow, Korea Institute of Defense Analyses, stated that with the Biden administration, the US foreign policy is expected to roll back to its original strategies, retracting back to multilateralism. Ambassador Yun called this a transition from pragmatic diplomacy to traditional diplomacy. Joseph DeTrani, the former U.S. Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks with North Korea, stated that to upgrade the US-ROK relations, the two countries need to resolve the shared issues first, such as the cost of SMA, trade, the absence of a peace treaty with North Korea, etc. Also, other panelists pointed out the necessity of redefining the US-ROK alliance and prioritizing and sharing each country’s priorities.

Sharing the anticipation of the possibility that the incoming administration may be able to advance its relationships with China and South Korea, we need to remember that the Biden Administration will hold an important role as the representative of the US and the people of America.

Korea Policy Forum, “U.S.-ROK Cooperation Between the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the New South Policy”

December 10, 2020August 5, 2021Event Summaries, Korea Policy ForumLeave a Comment

On December 7th, 2020, the GW Institute for Korean Studies partnered with the East Asia National Resource Center to host a Korea Policy Forum with guest speaker Marc Knapper, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Korea and Japan from the U.S. Department of State. Joined and moderated by GWIKS Director, Dr. Jisoo Kim, the discussion of this event revolved around “U.S.-ROK Cooperation Between the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the New South Policy,” which mainly examined targeted goals and cooperation shared by the U.S.-ROK alliance and the nations within the Indo-Pacific region in order to promote a positive, safe, and prosperous environment.

In opening up the discussion, Deputy Knapper began by highlighting the importance of the U.S.-ROK alliance in helping to shape changes into the Indo-Pacific region. South Korea’s emergence as a global player and regional power has become a huge benefit to our alliances, as it extends our reach and capabilities in the region when it comes to achieving goals and shared principles. Some of these key points outlined by the Deputy include: free seas and open skies, insulating sovereign nations from coercion, the promotion of good governance and human rights, as well as free and open trade.

South Korea’s New South Policy that was declared back in 2017 echoes many of those shared principles, aimed to promote closer relations and harmony with the nations of South East Asia on a foundation of “People, Peace, and Prosperity.” The action plan consists on a number of objectives to expand upon going into the future, through collaborative efforts of the United States, fellow South East Asian countries, institutions, and nonprofits. In terms of economic prosperity, there is a join recognition between the U.S.-ROK alliance on the importance of open investment, trade, and competitive markets in order to influence growth and deter coercion.

This also ties into the development of human capital and championing good governance, mainly providing additional efforts, incentives, but equally, good examples of good governance through public and private investments that allow citizens within these countries the skills and education they have opportunities within the system. This primarily focuses on enhancing the welfare of the people of South East Asia in addition to addressing challenges and disagreements that continue to be an issue amongst the region, such as woman’s rights.

When looking at actions taken to address the COVID-19 pandemic, both the United States and South Korea have donated thousands of dollars in aid and resources to help facilitate the healthcare and security of nations within the region, in addition to providing funds to keep their economies going. Cooperative efforts have also been made into providing education resources to governments and citizens in order to handle the ongoing pandemic as it continues to evolve.

Continued cooperation efforts through investment, dialogue, and diplomacy through this alliance will not only beneficial for the nation of South East Asia, but foster community within the region built on the betterment of all that will allow for prosperity and collaboration to thrive within the future.