Category: Korea Policy Forum

Korea Policy Forum:

ROK-China Relations: Challenges and Opportunities in the Next 30 Years

Friday, October 28, 2022

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM EDT

Zoom Event

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.

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.

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.

Korea Policy Forum

The New Yoon Administration and US-ROK Relations: Journalists’ Views

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

9:00 AM – 10:15 AM EDT

Zoom Event

The People Power Party candidate, former Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol, was narrowly elected as South Korea’s next president on March 9, 2022. President-elect Yoon will take office on May 10, 2022. In anticipation of the start of a new administration, The GW Institute for Korean Studies has invited four renowned journalists (two each from South Korea and the United States) to discuss the domestic reactions to the results of the Korean presidential election and the expectations and concerns about U.S.-Korea relations under the new Yoon administration.

Due to the change in ruling parties, it’s likely that the new Yoon administration’s approach to foreign policy will differ greatly from that of the incumbent Moon administration. Some have speculated that this new administration could pursue a renewed push for closer relations with the U.S. Others have also suggested that the new administration will take a more hardline stance on North Korea compared to the Moon administration’s more conciliatory approach. Given the narrow margin of victory in the election, domestic reactions to any major policy changes are certain to spark a lively debate among a divided Korean public. We invite you to join us to hear our invited journalists’ unique perspectives on these issues and more as we analyze the impact of Yoon’s election victory.

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

Speakers

Gyuseok Jang is the News Director of the CBS (Christian Broadcasting System) Morning News show, one of the major nation-wide radio broadcasting programs in South Korea. He directs the overall procedures of the show, including curating items, broadcast programing, and producing breaking news and podcasts. He also previously worked as a Washington correspondent for 3 years (2017-2019). While residing in D.C., he delivered news about U.S.-ROK and U.S.-DPRK relations issues via radio, internet, and social media. He has also had the opportunity to research and write about all the ups and downs of U.S.-DPRK relations, from the so called ‘Bloody Nose Strike’ to U.S.-DPRK Summits. He obtained his B.A. in Public Administration from Yonsei University and also received an M.S. in Local Economic Development from the London School of Economics.

Josh Rogin is a columnist for the Global Opinions section of the Washington Post and a political analyst with CNN. He is also the author of Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the 21st Century, released in March, 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcout. Previously, he has covered foreign policy and national security for Bloomberg View, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, Foreign Policy magazine, Congressional Quarterly, Federal Computer Week magazine, and Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. His work has been featured on outlets including NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, MSNBC, NPR, and many more. He has been recognized with the Interaction Award for Excellence in International Reporting and as a Finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. He has also received journalism fellowships from the Knight Foundation, the East-West Center, and the National Press Foundation. He has a B.A. in international affairs from the George Washington University and studied at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife Ali Rogin of the PBS News Hour.

Jung Eun Lee is an editorial writer and a reporter at the Dong-A Ilbo Daily in South Korea. She worked as a Washington correspondent from 2019 to 2021. She specializes in national security and foreign affairs, and has been reporting on North Korea, denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy. She was dispatched to Channel A, the affiliate broadcasting company of Dong-A Ilbo, as a senior reporter at the political desk in 2014. She was a visiting scholar at the U.S.-Korea Institute (USKI) at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies from 2014 to 2015. She obtained her B.A. in journalism from Seoul National University, and M.A. from the Graduate School of North Korean Studies.

Tim Martin is the Korea bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, where he oversees news coverage on the Korean Peninsula. He has been based in Seoul since early 2017, with prior stints at the Journal’s offices in New York, Chicago and Atlanta—where he covered public health and the CDC. He holds a B.A. in Journalism from Eastern Illinois University and also previously studied Korean at Seoul National University.

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

South Korea’s Presidential Election & US-ROK Relations

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM EST

11:00 PM – 12:00 AM KST

Zoom Event

South Koreans will soon go to the polls to elect their next president on March 9, 2022. The two leading candidates are former Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung from the ruling Democratic Party and former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl from the opposition People Power Party. As these two candidates hold divergent views on foreign policy, the results of this consequential election will surely have a major impact on US-ROK relations.

The GW Institute for Korean Studies has invited a prominent supporter of each major candidate to share their views on the race and their preferred candidate’s foreign policy goals. Joon Hyung Kim (former Chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy) and Beomchul Shin (Director of Diplomacy and Security Center at Korea Research Institute for National Strategy) will be presenting on the foreign policy of Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-youl, respectively. Their presentations will be followed by comments from two expert discussants, Celeste Arrington (Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at GW) and Mark Tokola (Vice President of the Korea Economic Institute of America). We invite you to join us for an engaging discussion on the upcoming election and its implications for the future of US-ROK relations.

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

Speaker

Joon Hyung Kim is the former Chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy and currently a Professor of the International Studies Department, Handong Global University. His areas of specialization and interests are theories of international relations, Northeast Asian relations including US-China, US-ROK, and North-South Korean relations. He was also invited as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar to George Mason University’s Department of Public and International Affairs, and taught several courses including US-Korea Relations and East Asian International Politics. Since 2011, Dr. Kim has been involved in the Korea Peace Forum, a renowned network-based think-tank specialized in peace and unification. In 2016 and 2017, he was a member of Moon Jae In’s presidential election camp, where he advised on and formulated major foreign policies. After Moon was elected, he joined the Government Transition Committee, and became a member of the Presidential Commission on Policy Planning (Security and Foreign Policy Sub-committee). In addition to that, he belonged to advisory committees to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Unification, and the National Security Council. Dr. Kim earned his Bachelor’s Degree at Yonsei University (1986), and M.A. and Ph.D. at George Washington University.

Discussants

Alexis Dudden is Professor of History at the University of Connecticut, where she teaches modern Japanese, Korean, and international history. She publishes regularly in print and online media and is completing a book project tentatively called, The Opening and Closing of Japan, 1850-2020. Dudden received her BA from Columbia University in 1991 and her PhD in history from the University of Chicago in 1998. Since1985, she has lived and studied for extended periods of time in Japan and South Korea and is currently a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC.

Mark Tokola is Vice President of the Korea Economic Institute of America in Washington, DC. He retired as a U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister-Counselor in September 2014. His last posting was as the Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at US Embassy in London. Previously he had served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassies in Seoul, Republic of Korea; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; and, Reykjavik, Iceland. Among his other postings were two tours at the US Mission to the European Union in Brussels, Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs at Embassy London, and Economic Counselor at the US Embassy in The Hague. He also served as Director of the Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO) in Baghdad from 2007-2008. Mr. Tokola received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award for his work on implementing the Dayton Peace Accords while serving as Political Counselor in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1997-1999. He holds a BA in International Relations from Pomona College in Claremont, California, and an LL.M. in European Community Law from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Mr. Tokola serves on the Board of Governors of DACOR: An Organization of Foreign Affairs Professionals, and on the Board of Trustees of the Bacon House Foundation.

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

South Korea’s Presidential Election & US-ROK Relations

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (EST)

11:00 PM – 12:00 AM (KST)

Zoom Event

South Koreans will soon go to the polls to elect their next president on March 9, 2022. The two leading candidates are former Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung from the ruling Democratic Party and former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl from the opposition People Power Party. As these two candidates hold divergent views on foreign policy, the results of this consequential election will surely have a major impact on US-ROK relations.

The GW Institute for Korean Studies has invited a prominent supporter of each major candidate to share their views on the race and their preferred candidate’s foreign policy goals. Joon Hyung Kim (former Chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy) and Beomchul Shin (Director of Diplomacy and Security Center at Korea Research Institute for National Strategy) will be presenting on the foreign policy of Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-youl, respectively. Their presentations will be followed by comments from two expert discussants, Celeste Arrington (Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at GW) and Mark Tokola (Vice President of the Korea Economic Institute of America). We invite you to join us for an engaging discussion on the upcoming election and its implications for the future of US-ROK relations.

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

Speaker

Beomchul Shin is the Director of the Diplomacy and Security Center at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy (KRINS). Before joining the KRINS, he worked at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Until March 2018, he served at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy as tenured professor. He also served for the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the Director-General for Policy Planning from 2013 to 2016. Before joining the Ministry, he was the Head of the North Korean Military Studies Research Division at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. Prior to that, he worked very closely with the Minister of National Defense of Korea as the Senior Policy Advisor in 2009 and 2010. He also has served in many advisory positions both at the National Security Council at the Office of the President and the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors at the Korean Society of International Law as well. Dr. Shin is the author of several books on law and security, including North Korean Military: A Secret Report (2013) and International Law and the Use of Force (2008). He also has been publishing many articles on the Korea-U.S. alliance, North Korea, and Northeast Asian politics and security. He received his B.A. from Chungnam National University and did his graduate studies at at the School of Law at Seoul National University. He received his S.J.D. (Doctor of Judicial Science) from Georgetown University Law Center in 2007.

Discussants

Celeste Arrington is Korea Foundation Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at GW. She specializes in comparative politics, with a regional focus on the Koreas and Japan. Her research and teaching focus on law and social movements, the media, lawyers, policy processes, historical justice, North Korean human rights, and qualitative methods. She is also interested in the international relations and security of Northeast Asia and transnational activism. She is the author of Accidental Activists: Victim Movements and Governmental Accountability in Japan and South Korea (2016) and has published in Comparative Political Studies, Law & Society Review, Journal of East Asian Studies, Pacific Affairs, Asian Survey, and the Washington Post, among others. She received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and an A.B. from Princeton University. She is currently writing a book that analyzes the role of lawyers and legal activism in Japanese and Korean policies related to persons with disabilities and tobacco control.

Mark Tokola is Vice President of the Korea Economic Institute of America in Washington, DC. He retired as a U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister-Counselor in September 2014. His last posting was as the Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at US Embassy in London. Previously he had served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassies in Seoul, Republic of Korea; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; and, Reykjavik, Iceland. Among his other postings were two tours at the US Mission to the European Union in Brussels, Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs at Embassy London, and Economic Counselor at the US Embassy in The Hague. He also served as Director of the Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO) in Baghdad from 2007-2008. Mr. Tokola received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award for his work on implementing the Dayton Peace Accords while serving as Political Counselor in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1997-1999. He holds a BA in International Relations from Pomona College in Claremont, California, and an LL.M. in European Community Law from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Mr. Tokola serves on the Board of Governors of DACOR: An Organization of Foreign Affairs Professionals, and on the Board of Trustees of the Bacon House Foundation.

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.

Legislating the Relationship Between South and North Korea, a Road for Peace on the Korean Peninsula

Thursday, November 18, 2021
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST

Zoom Event

**THIS IS A HYBRID EVENT. There will be FORTY-FIVE (45) first come, first serve in-person tickets for attendance at the George Washington University’s Elliott School for International Affairs. IN-PERSON TICKETS ARE RESERVED FOR GW STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF. For outside affiliations, there will be tickets available to attend virtually via Zoom.**

**Minister Park will be giving his remarks in Korean. Consecutive interpretation from Korean to English will be provided during both the speech and the Q&A session**

About the Event

Reunification can be understood as an issue of national diplomacy, security or defense. Nevertheless, the course of promoting peace and achieving reunification between the two Koreas, in fact, falls into the legal scope. As seen from the reunification of East and West Germany, the beginning and completion of the discussion on the reunification of a divided nation depends on the construction of laws and systems. The Minister of Justice, who heads the ministry that develops legal systems and is responsible to render and design a legal blueprint for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula, will discuss the beginning of a new era where military confrontation is replaced by legal systems.

Speaker

Justice Minister Park Beom Kye was appointed as the 68th Minister of Justice of the Republic of Korea in January 2021. With over 30 years of experience in the legal field as a judge and attorney at law, Minister Park is also a third term member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. He has been representing Seo District of the city of Daejeon since 2012. As a National Assembly member, Minister Park served in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for a long period and worked as the Secretary of the Special Committee on Judicial Reform in 2018. He was also the Chief Spokesperson of the Democratic Party. Minister Park served as a member for both the Special Committee on the Investigation of the Illegal Online Meddling in Election Campaigns by the National Intelligence Service (2013) and the Special Committee on the Investigation of the Influence-Peddling Scandal involving President Park Geun Hye’s confidant Choi Soon Sil (2016~2017). Minister Park worked as the Subcommittee Chairman on Political Administration under the National Planning and Advisory Committee, a presidential transition committee, set up by President Moon Jae In in 2017. He was the Secretary to the President for both Civil Affairs II and Legal Affairs during the Roh Moo Hyun administration. Minister Park is married with two sons.

Moderator

Alyssa Ayres is Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Ayres is a foreign policy practitioner and award-winning author with senior experience in the government, nonprofit, and private sectors. From 2013 to 2021, she was senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where she remains an adjunct senior fellow. Her work focuses primarily on India’s role in the world and on U.S. relations with South Asia in the larger Indo-Pacific. Her book about India’s rise on the world stage, Our Time Has Come: How India is Making Its Place in the World, was published in 2018. Ayres is also interested in the emergence of subnational engagement in foreign policy, particularly the growth of international city networks, and her current book project (working title, Bright Lights, Biggest Cities: The Urban Challenge to India’s Future, under contract with Oxford University Press) examines India’s urban transformation and its international implications. From 2010 to 2013, Ayres served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia. She received an AB from Harvard College and an MA and PhD from the University of Chicago.

Korea Policy Forum Virtual Roundtable

U.S.-China Strategic Rivalry and U.S.-ROK Cooperation After the Biden-Moon Summit

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM EDT

Zoom Event

In their first summit meeting held last May, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden rejuvenated the decades-long alliance by not only focusing on traditional bilateral topics but also addressing new regional and global issues in the context of the intensifying U.S.-China strategic rivalry—including climate change, supply chains, and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. The agreements made at the summit could have long-term ramifications for South Korea’s strategic positioning in Northeast Asia and the United States’ broader regional strategy. In particular, the allies will have to navigate changing dynamics in domestic politics leading up to and after the 2022 presidential election in South Korea and midterm elections in the United States. 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 the presently evolving chapter in U.S.-ROK relations following the May summit.

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

Speakers

Hyo-young Lee is currently Assistant Professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), teaching International Trade & Diplomacy. Before joining the KNDA faculty in March 2017, she worked as a research fellow at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) Division of International Trade (2013-2016), during which she also worked as Assistant Secretary for Trade, Industry and Energy at the Presidential Office (2014-2015). Her research interest spans over various issues in international trade, with particular interest in trade rules on industrial subsidy policies, digital trade, and various issues that are linked with trade, such as trade and national security, trade and climate change. She has written on various subjects, with recent reports on: Evolution and Evaluation of International Rules on Digital Trade (2021), Current Trends and Prospects for Asia Regional Economic Integration: RCEP and CPTPP (2021), Concept of ‘Peace and Economic Development’ in Multilateral Institutions and Implications for Inter-Korean Cooperation (2020), Regulation of Subsidies and U.S.-China Strategic Competition (2020), Trade and Development: Way Forward for Economic and Trade Cooperation with Developing Countries (2019), and Rise of Regionalism and Tasks for South Korea’s Trade Diplomacy (2019). Dr. Lee obtained her Ph.D. in International Studies from Seoul National University, South Korea.

Hyun-Wook Kim is currently a Professor and Director-General at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. His research areas include the U.S.-ROK alliance, U.S-DPRK relations and Northeast Asian security. He was an advisory member for the National Security Council and the Ministry of Unification, and is now a standing member for the National Unification Advisory Council. He is also a senior advisor for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and is also an honorary research fellow at the Korean Naval Academy. He was a visiting scholar at UC San Diego in 2014 and at George Washington University in 2020-21. He has earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from Brown University, and worked at the University of Southern California as a postdoctoral fellow. He received his B.A. in political science from Yonsei University.

Robert Sutter is Professor of Practice of International Affairs at the Elliott School of George Washington University (2011-Present). He also served as Director of the School’s main undergraduate program involving over 2,000 students from 2013-2019. His earlier full-time position was Visiting Professor of Asian Studies at Georgetown University (2001-2011). Sutter’s government career (1968-2001) saw service as senior specialist and director of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division of the Congressional Research Service, and other organizations within the Intelligence Community. A Ph.D. graduate in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University, Sutter has published 22 books (four with multiple editions), over 300 articles and several hundred government reports dealing with contemporary East Asian and Pacific countries and their relations with the United States. His most recent books are Chinese Foreign Relations: Power and Policy of an Emerging Global Force, Fifth Edition (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021) and US-China Relations, Fourth Edition (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022).

Stephen B. Kaplan is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University, and a faculty affiliate of the Institute for International Economic Policy. He is also a current global fellow at the Wilson Center. Professor Kaplan’s research and teaching interests focus on the frontiers of international and comparative political economy, where he specializes in the political economy of global finance and development, China’s foreign investment in developing countries, and Latin American politics. His book, Globalization and Austerity Politics in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2013), offers important lessons for understanding financial crises in the wake of the global pandemic. His new book, Globalizing Patient Capital: The Political Economy of Chinese Finance in the Americas (Cambridge University Press, July 2021), examines China’s overseas financial investments in the developing world. Professor Kaplan has also published articles in many top research journals, including the Journal of Politics, the Review of International Political Economy, the Latin American Research Review, and World Development. Professor Kaplan holds a Ph.D. from Yale University, a M.S. from Georgetown University, and a post-doctorate fellowship from Princeton University. Prior to his doctoral studies, Professor Kaplan was a senior economic researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, writing extensively on developing country economics, global finance, and emerging market crises from 1998 to 2003.

Moderator

Gregg A. Brazinsky is Professor of History and International Affairs, Deputy Director of the Institute for Korean Studies, and Interim Director for the Sigur Center 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.