A worker in a hazmat suit approaching a car at a security checkpoint

[4/23/2020] Virtual Korea Policy Forum Webinar: “South Korea’s Response to the Corona Virus: Public Health, ICT, and Economic Measures”

Korea Policy Forum

“South Korea’s Response to the Corona Virus: Public Health, ICT, and Economic Measures”

Event Description

As the world is reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, South Korea has emerged as a model of effective testing, contact tracing, and treatment. It is remarkable that South Korea succeeded in flattening the curve of new infections without lockdowns or travel restrictions. On April 15, South Koreans even held the world’s first general election in the coronavirus era with a record high turnout rate. As the U.S. is aiming to reopen the economy, the South Korean case would provide a rare example of how the coronavirus pandemic management could work.

Please join GW Institute for Korean Studies for an online discussion on South Korea’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the areas of public health measures, use of technology and data, and economic and financial measures.

Speakers

Chang Huh
Deputy Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Economy and Finance

Hee-Kwon Jung
Director-General, International Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Science and ICT

Moran Ki
Professor, Department of Cancer Control and Population Health, National Cancer Center Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy (NCC-GCSP)

Moderator

Yonho Kim
Associate Director, GW Institute for Korean Studies

Date & Time

Thursday, April 23rd, 2020
9:00 AM-10:00 AM

Registered guests will receive a separate WebEx invitation email with details
for joining the event a day before the event.

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

Speakers

Chang Huh has been serving as the Deputy Minister for International Affairs of the Ministry of Economy and Finance since February 2020. He has worked in various capacities both at home and abroad, including serving as the Director General for the Development Finance Bureau from 2018 to 2020 and as the Senior Director for the International Economic Policy Division from 2012 to 2013. Dr. Huh has also worked at the OECD as the Minister of the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Korea (2015-2018) and at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as an advisor to the Executive Director of the Korean Office (2004-2005). He majored in International Economics at Seoul National University and received a Ph.D. in Economics from I.E.P. de Paris in July 2003.

Hee-Kwon Jung has been serving as the Director-General for the International Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Science and ICT since November 2019. He also served as the President of the Seoul Office of Central Radio Management Service of the Ministry of Science and ICT from 2018 to 2019. From 2014 to 2016, he worked as the Director of the Public-Private Joint Task Force for the Creative Economy on the Presidential Advisory Council for Science and Technology and held positions in the S&T Innovation Division, S&T Strategy Division, and S&T Policy Division of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. From 2009 to 2011, he was seconded to the OECD. In 2007, he worked as the Director of the Technology Innovation System Division of the Ministry of Science and Technology. He graduated from Seoul National University, majoring in International Economics, and acquired an M.A in Public Administration from the University of Missouri.

Moran Ki is a professor in the Department of Cancer Control and Population Health at the National Cancer Center Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy (NCC-GCSP). Her expertise lies in infectious disease epidemiology and global health. She worked as a professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Eulji University from 1998 to 2013 and served as the Dean of Eulji University’s Graduate School of Public Health from 2005 to 2008 and again from 2011 to 2013. She received her Ph.D. from Hanyang University’s College of Medicine. She also received an M.P.H. in Public Health from Seoul National University and an M.D. in medicine from Hanyang University.

Moderator

Yonho Kim is Associate Research Professor of Practice and 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 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.

Person stamping a ballot in Korean with the date April 15, 2020

[4/20/2020] Virtual Korea Policy Forum Webinar: “South Korea’s National Assembly Elections: Prospects of New Political Geography and Foreign Policy”

Korea Policy Forum

“South Korea’s National Assembly Elections: Prospects of New Political Geography and Foreign Policy”

Event Description

On April 15, South Korea will hold the general elections amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Not only the unprecedented fight against COVID-19 but also the new proportional representation system emerged as critical variables for the election results. What are the main political parties’ strategies and challenges leading up to the elections and how did they lead to the election outcome? How would the political landscape, including the power relations within the main political parties, be shifting in the coming months? What would be the potential impact of the election results on Seoul’s repositioning its foreign and security policy? Please join the GW Institute for Korean Studies for an online discussion with experts from both the U.S. and South Korea on the prospects of a new domestic political geography in South Korea and its potential impact on U.S.-ROK relations and Seoul’s North Korea policy.

Speakers

Stephen Costello
Non-Resident Scholar, GW Institute for Korean Studies

Celeste Arrington
Korea Foundation Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University

Heung-Kyu Kim
Director of China Policy Institute, Ajou University

Moderator

Yonho Kim
Associate Director, GW Institute for Korean Studies

Date & Time

Monday, April 20th, 2020
9:15 AM-10:30 AM

Registered guests will receive a separate WebEx invitation email with details
for joining the event a day before the event.

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

Speakers

Stephen Costello has been immersed in South Korean politics and foreign policy since 1990. He is the Director of the policy NGO AsiaEast.Org and columnist with The Korea Times in Seoul. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy Analysis from Syracuse University. Mr. Costello was formerly director of the Korea Program at the Atlantic Council of the US and director of the Kim Dae Jung Peace Foundation/USA. He was a political consultant and policy advisor to overseas political parties and mayors, and Washington manager for overseas NGOs. He has consulted for small technology businesses in Korea and the US. He has advised ministers and staff at the Foreign and Unification ministries in Seoul and the State Department in Washington. Beyond South Korea, Costello’s focus includes the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia, and the US interests in the region.

Celeste Arrington is Korea Foundation Assistant 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: Victims and Government Accountability in South Korea and Japan (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.

Heung-Kyu Kim is the founder and Director of China Policy Institute and professor in the department of political science at Ajou University, South Korea. He also served as a professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His current assignments include Policy Advisory Board Member for the Ministry of National Defense and the ROK Army and a member 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, South Korea, and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

Moderator

Yonho Kim is Associate Research Professor of Practice and 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 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.

[3/30/20] “Global Views on COVID 19: Responses and Perspectives in China, Taiwan, and Italy”

“Global Views on COVID-19: Responses and Perspectives in China, Taiwan, and Italy”: A Webinar Workshop

 

Event Description

In addition to the Herculean task of moving all your instruction online, we know educators are also fielding questions from students about COVID 19. What can we expect in the coming weeks as the COVID 19 pandemic unfolds? How might we address the broad social, economic, and political consequences of the pandemic?

The webinar series “Global Views on COVID 19” will help you answer these questions by examining the effects of COVID 19 around the world, giving educators an opportunity to learn from experiences and policies in other countries. Each session will focus on a particular region and will feature information about personal impacts, economic policies, and the intersection of COVID 19 with politics.

This session will be recorded and presentations will be made available the videoconference.

Speakers

Huaying Bao

East Asia Voices Initiative Fellow, GW

International Exchange and Cooperation Office, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China

Dr. Eve Chiu

East Asia Voices Initiative Fellow, GW

CEO, The Foundation for Excellent Journalism Award, Taiwan

Dr. Qingyun Li

East Asia Voices Initiative Fellow, GW

Associate Research Professor, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, China

Dr. Giulio Pugliese

East Asia Voices Initiative Fellow, GW

Lecturer, King’s College London, United Kingdom

Topics

“Understanding Coronavirus Responses in Different Cultures and Systems: Hopeful Views in China” presented by Huaying Bao and Dr. Qingyun Li
“Resolute Island in Turbulent Times: How Taiwan is Responding to the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic” presented by Dr. Eve Chiu
“Italy’s Struggle with COVID-19: A Clarion Call” presented by Dr. Giulio Pugliese

Date & Time

Monday, March 30th, 2020
7:30 PM-8:30 PM

Technical Details

Zoom videoconferencing app
When you register at the link, you will be given a meeting ID and URL link to the video conference. Please keep a record of the URL and meeting ID to join. You may be able to use Zoom via a web browser if you do not already have the Zoom application.

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

Nuclear Explosion

[11/04/2019] Korea Policy Forum: “Nuclear and Conventional Arms Control on the Korean Peninsula”

Korea Policy Forum

“Nuclear and Conventional Arms Control on the Korean Peninsula”

Event Description

Mindful of the uncertain circumstances of the Korean Peninsula, two experts from Korea National Defense University will talk on the past, present, and future of nuclear and conventional arms control of the Korean Peninsula. As a former negotiator with North Korea on arms control, Professor Yong-sup Han will share his experiences and share his views on the future of nuclear arms control focusing on verification issues. As an official member of National Security Advisory Board of the Republic of Korea President’s Office, Professor Youngjun Kim will present on the current status and the future of conventional arms control on the Korean Peninsula. Having deeply engaged in the national security policymaking of the ROK government, the two experts will share their insights and experiences and provide a great opportunity to understand the future of security on the Korean Peninsula.

Speakers

Professor Yong-sup Han
Vice President, Korea National Defense University

Professor Young-jun Kim
Professor, Korea National Defense University

Moderator

Yonho Kim
Associate Director, GW Institute for Korean Studies

Discussant

Joanna Spear
 Associate Professor of International Affairs, George Washington University

Date & Time

Monday, November 4th, 2019
2:00 PM-4:00 PM

Location

Room 505
Elliott School of International Affairs
The George Washington University
1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052

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

Speakers

Professor Yong-sup Han is a Professor at the Korea National Defense University (KNDU). His vast academic experience includes serving as the President of Korea Nuclear Policy Society (2012-15), Vice President of KNDU (2010-12), Director General of Research Institute for National Security Affairs, KNDU (2005-08), and President of Korea Peace Research Association (2007-10). He was Visiting Fellow to the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI); Visiting Professor of Fudan University in Shanghai China (2015.8-2016.2); Visiting Professor of China Foreign Affairs University (2009.1-2009.6); and Visiting Fellow to the U.S. RAND Corporation (1999-2000). He also served as Special Assistant to the South Korean Minister of National Defense (1993), and Senior Staff Member to the South-North Joint Nuclear Control Commission (1991-92). He earned his BA and MA in political science from Seoul National University (1978 and 1982), Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University (1987), and Ph.D. in Public Policy from the RAND Graduate School (1991).

Professor Young-jun Kim is a Professor of the National Security College at the Korea National Defense University (KNDU). He is now a member of National Security Advisory Board for the Republic of Korea President’s Office (the Blue House). His recent publications include Origins of the North Korean Garrison State: People’s Army and the Korean War at Routledge (2017). At the Prime Minister’s Office, he is an official reviewer of the Government Performance Review on Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Unification. He is a member of the ROK-US Combined Forces Commander’s Strategic Shaping Board (CSSB). He is Senior Research Fellow at the U.S. Army’s Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO) at Fort Leavenworth. He is a policy advisor on North Korean issues for the National Security Office of the ROK President’s Office, the National Assembly, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Ministry of National Defense (MND), Ministry of Unification, National Intelligence Service, the Joint Chief of Staff and the ROK-US Combined Forces Command. He is a managing editor of the new journal “The Korean Journal of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Energy” sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General-Director for the Korea Nuclear Policy Society, Korea International Studies Association and Korea Defense Policy Association.

Discussant

Joanna Spear is an Associate Professor of International Affairs and Director of the FAO Regional Sustainment Initiative. She previously was the Director of the Elliott School’s Security Policy Studies Program and the Founding Director of the National Security Studies Program, an executive education program serving the needs of the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies. Dr. Spear is also an Associate Fellow at Chatham House in London. Before joining GW, Dr. Spear was Director of the Graduate Research Programme and a Senior Lecturer at the Department of War Studies, King’s College, London. In addition, she was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a Visiting Scholar at the Brookings Institution.

Moderator

Yonho Kim is Associate Research Professor of Practice and 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 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.

Missile with North Korean flag image wrapped around

[10/14/2019] Prospects for a Nuclear Deal with North Korea

The GW Institute for Korean Studies & the East Asia National Resource Center Present:

 

Korea Policy Forum

Prospects for a Nuclear Deal with North Korea

Event Description

Less than four months ago, U.S. President Donald Trump briefly set foot in North Korea, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to do so. This was the third meeting between Trump and Kim in twelve months, an unimaginable development for Americans and Koreans alike. Ambassador Joseph Yun, former U.S. Representative for North Korea Policy (2016-18), will discuss whether these Trump-Kim meetings are just photo-ops or if they could lead to an agreement that will denuclearize North Korea and thus change the Korean Peninsula and the region.

Speakers

Ambassador Joseph Yun
Senior Advisor, the U.S. Institute of Peace

Welcoming Remarks

Jisoo M. Kim
Director, GW Institute for Korean Studies

Moderator

Yonho Kim
Associate Director, GW Institute for Korean Studies

Date & Time
Monday, October 14th, 2019
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location

Room 602, Lindner Family Commons
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052

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

Speaker

Ambassador Yun, recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts on relations with North Korea, as well as broader U.S.-East Asia policy, most recently served as Special Representative for North Korea Policy. Currently, he is Senior Advisor with The Asia Group, a DC-based strategic consulting firm, and the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent and non-partisan federal institute working on peace and reconciliation issues throughout the globe. He is also a Global Affairs Commentator for the CNN. Yun’s 33-year diplomatic career has been marked by his commitment to face-to-face engagement as the best avenue for resolving conflict and advancing cross-border cooperation. As Special Representative on North Korea from 2016 to 2018, Ambassador Yun led the U.S. efforts to align regional powers behind a united policy to denuclearize North Korea. He was instrumental in reopening the “New York channel,” a direct communication line with officials from Pyongyang. As Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2011-2013), Yun led efforts to normalize diplomatic relations with Myanmar. Yun also served as Ambassador to Malaysia (2013-16). Before joining the Foreign Service, Yun was a senior economist for Data Resources, Inc., in Lexington, Massachusetts. He holds a M. Phil. degree from the London School of Economics and a BS from the University of Wales.

Welcoming Remarks

Jisoo M. Kim is Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures and Director of the Institute for Korean Studies at GW. She received her Ph.D. in Korean History from Columbia University. She is a specialist in gender and legal history of early modern Korea. 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 two book projects titled Suspicious Deaths: Forensic Medicine, Dead Bodies, and Criminal Justice in Chosŏn Korea and Sexual Desire and Gendered Subjects: Decriminalization of Adultery Law in Korean History.

Moderator

Yonho Kim is Associate Research Professor of Practice and 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 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.

American flag shaped in the American landmass on the left and Chinese flag shaped in the Chinese landmass on the right with two arms pointing towards each other.

[10/01/2019] U.S.-China Strategic Rivalry and the Korean Peninsula

The GW Institute for Korean Studies & the East Asia National Resource Center Present:

Korea Policy Forum

U.S.-China Strategic Rivalry and the Korean Peninsula

Event Description

In recent years, the U.S. and China have been engaged in the strategic rivalry on both the security and economic fronts with the rise of China and the Trump administration’s new approach to U.S.-China relations. The Korean peninsula is facing growing uncertainties as the competition between the two great powers intensifies in the region. South Korea seeks autonomy while upgrading its traditional alliance with the U.S., whereas North Korea strives for a new relationship with the U.S. with strengthened ties with China. How will the changing strategic equations surrounding the Korean peninsula impact the security and prosperity in the region? The Korea Policy Forum at GWIKS will bring together three experts from South Korea, the U.S., and China to answer the question and discuss the strategic choices and paths for the Korean peninsula.

Speakers

Heung-Kyu Kim
Ajou University

Scott Snyder
Council on Foreign Relations

Jiyong Zheng
Fudan University

Moderator

Jisoo M. Kim
GW Institute for Korean Studies

Date & Time

Wednesday, October 1st, 2019
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Location

Room 505
Elliott School of International Affairs 
1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052

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

Speakers

Heung-Kyu Kim is the founder and Director of China Policy Institute and professor in the department of political science at Ajou University, South Korea. He also served as a professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His current assignments include 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, Ministry of National Defense. Kim has written more than 300 articles, books, and policy papers regarding Chinese politics and foreign policy, and security issues in Northeast Asia. They 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, South Korea, and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

Scott A. Snyder is a senior fellow for Korea studies and director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His program examines South Korea’s efforts to contribute on the international stage; its potential influence and contributions as a middle power in East Asia; and the peninsular, regional, and global implications of North Korean instability. Mr. Snyder is the author of South Korea at the Crossroads: Autonomy and Alliance in an Era of Rival Powers (January 2018) and coauthor of The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States (May 2015) with Brad Glosserman. He is also the coeditor of North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society (October 2012), and the editor of Global Korea: South Korea’s Contributions to International Security (October 2012) and The U.S.-South Korea Alliance: Meeting New Security Challenges (March 2012). Mr. Snyder served as the project director for CFR’s Independent Task Force on policy toward the Korean Peninsula. He currently writes for the blog Asia Unbound.

Jiyong Zheng currently serves as Professor and Director at the Center for Korean Studies, Fudan University, and Secretary-General of Shanghai Institute of Korean Studies. Zheng Jiyong joined the army and studied at the School of Foreign Languages, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. In 1991, he was assigned to research the military and diplomacy of the Korean Peninsula. In 2009, he retired from the army and joined Fudan University. He received his Doctoral Degree at Fudan University and has had post-doctoral experiences at IFES, Kyungnam University, ROK(2009/09-2010/12) and in Kim Il Sung University, DPRK(2014/07-11), and was a visiting scholar in Seoul National University, ROK(2016/09-2017/09), and is currently a Visiting Scholar in The Henry L. Stimson Center. His research focuses on domestic politics in the two Koreas, and on bilateral and multilateral relations related to the Korean peninsula, and policy-making process in DPRK, China, and ROK. He is the author and co-author of more than 100 scholarly articles and author or editor of more than 10 books, including ROK’s Political Party Systems (2008), ROK’s Parliamentary Politics (2017), North Korea: Peace? Nuclear War? (2019), The “Conflict-Reconciliation” Cycle on the Korean Peninsula: A Chinese Perspective (2012), and Road Map to a Korean Peninsula Peace Regime: A Chinese Perspective (2015).

Moderator

Jisoo M. Kim is Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures and Director of the Institute for Korean Studies at GW. She received her Ph.D. in Korean History from Columbia University. She is a specialist in gender and legal history of early modern Korea. 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 two book projects titled Suspicious Deaths: Forensic Medicine, Dead Bodies, and Criminal Justice in Chosŏn Korea and Sexual Desire and Gendered Subjects: Decriminalization of Adultery Law in Korean History.

Cover of Enze Han's Book, Asymmetrical Neighbors: Borderland State-Building between China and Southeast Asia

[10/08/2019] Asymmetrical Neighbors: Borderland State-Building between China and Southeast Asia

“Asymmetrical Neighbors: Borderland State-Building between China and Southeast Asia”

Event Description

The East Asia National Resource Center welcomes you to join us for the book launch of Enze Han’s Asymmetrical Neighbors: Borderland State-Building between China and Southeast Asia.

Abstract

Is the process of state building a unilateral, national venture, or is it something more collaborative, taking place in the interstices between adjoining countries? To answer this question, this book takes a comparative look at the state building process along China, Myanmar, and Thailand’s common borderland area. It shows that the variations in state building among these neighboring countries are the result of an interactive process that occurs across national boundaries. 

Departing from existing approaches that look at such processes from the angle of singular, bounded territorial states, the book argues that a more fruitful method is to examine how state and nation building in one country can influence, and be influenced by, the same processes across borders. It argues that the success or failure of one country’s state building is a process that extends beyond domestic factors such as war preparation, political institutions, and geographic and demographic variables. Rather, it shows that we should conceptualize state building as an interactive process heavily influenced by a “neighborhood effect.” Furthermore, the book moves beyond the academic boundaries that divide arbitrarily China studies and Southeast Asian studies by providing an analysis that ties the state and nation building processes in China with those of Southeast Asia.

Speaker

Enze Han
Associate Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Hong Kong

Date & Time

Tuesday, October 8th, 2019
12:30 PM-1:45 PM

Location

Chung-wen Shih Conference. Room – Suite 503
Elliott School of International Affairs 
1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052

Note: This event is free and open to the public. This event is to support the launch of Enze Han’s book entitled Asymmetrical Neighbors: Borderland State Building between China and Southeast Asia.

Enze Han is an Associate Professor at the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong. His research interests include ethnic politics in China, China’s relations with Southeast Asia, and the politics of state formation in the borderland area between China, Myanmar and Thailand. Previously he was Senior Lecturer at the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS, University of London. His research has been supported by the Leverhulme Research Fellowship, and British Council/Newton Fund. During 2015-2016, he was a Friends Founders’ Circle Member of the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, USA. He is the author of Asymmetrical Neighbours: Borderland State Building between China and Southeast Asia (Oxford University Press, 2019), and Contestation and Adaptation: The Politics of National Identity in China (Oxford University Press, 2013).