2020-2021 – Page 3 – East Asia National Resource Center

[9/22/2020] Korea Policy Forum – Virtual Roundtable Discussions: U.S.-Korea Relations in the Era of U.S.-China Strategic Rivalry

September 14, 2020October 20, 20202020-2021, Past EventsLeave a Comment

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

8:30am – 10:30am EDT | 9:30pm – 11:30pm KST

Livestream via Zoom

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Event Description

The intensifying strategic rivalry between the U.S. and China under the Trump administration has exposed the U.S.-Korea relations to a greater deal of uncertainty. With China’s economic rise and assertive diplomatic posture, this new strategic shock could last in the coming years regardless of the results of the U.S. presidential election this year. What are the challenges and opportunities that should be identified by the decades-old allies? What are the necessary steps that Seoul and Washington should take to reduce the strategic risks in the coming months and years? Please join the GW Institute for Korean Studies for an online roundtable discussion with experts from both the U.S. and South Korea on Washington and Seoul’s strategic thinking and priorities in Northeast Asia.

Roundtable Participants (Alphabetical Order)

(1) South Korea
Beomchul Shin (Director of Diplomacy and Security Center, Korea Research Institute for National Strategy)
Byung-Yeon Kim (Professor in the Department of Economics, Seoul National University)
Chaesung Chun (Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Seoul National University)
Heung-Kyu Kim (Director of U.S.-China Policy Institute, Ajou University)
Sang Hyun Lee (Senior Research Fellow, Sejong Institute)
Sung-Han Kim (Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies, Korea University)
Wang Hwi Lee (Professor in the Division of International Studies, Ajou University)

(2) The United States
Elbridge Colby (Co-Founder and Principal, The Marathon Initiative)
Eric Sayers (Vice President, Beacon Global Strategies)
John Fleming (Senior Director for Strategic Projects, Owl Cyber Defense Solutions)
Jung Pak (SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies, Brookings Institution)
Scott Snyder (Director of the Program on U.S.-Korea policy, Council on Foreign Relations)
William Brown (Principal, Northeast Asia Economics and Intelligence Advisory)
Yonho Kim (Associate Director, GW Institute for Korean Studies)

[10/02/2020] Mid Autumn Festival

September 14, 2020October 20, 20202020-2021, Past EventsLeave a Comment

Friday, October 2, 2020

12:00pm – 1:00pm EDT

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Event Description

Join us for a fun-filled afternoon of education and entertainment, from introducing how various Asian cultures celebrate the Festival, showing traditional Festival music and dance performances, to ending with our very own mooncake cooking tutorial.

This free virtual event will be held in English and is open to the public. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience, since registration is limited and spots are not guaranteed otherwise. We kindly ask attendees to please mute their audio upon meeting entry for best Zoom quality. Thank you for your cooperation.

Program Lineup

Opening Remarks by Dr. Ben Hopkins, Director of Sigur Center for Asian Studies & Associate Professor of History & International Affairs (GW)

Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration in Asia – Educational Presentation

Closing Remarks by Dr. Steven Balla, Research Director of GW Confucius Institute & Associate Professor of Political Science (GW)

Mid-Autumn Festival Traditional Art Performances with Lucy Qin (Hanfu)

Mooncake Cooking Tutorial

[9/03/2020] Korea Policy Forum: Security on the Korean Peninsula and the U.S.-ROK Relations

September 3, 2020September 14, 20202020-2021, Past EventsLeave a Comment

Thursday, September 3, 2020

10:00am – 11:00am EDT

Livestream via Zoom

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Event Description

During the last seventy years, the bilateral relationship between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America has been a lynchpin through which peace and stability has been maintained in Northeast Asia. A relationship that was originally a military alliance has evolved to become a partnership incorporating political, economic, and cultural cooperation as well.

The ongoing pandemic has proven to be another area where the partnership has demonstrated real results, as both country’s governments and businesses have undertaken new measures to cooperate in areas related to health and welfare and worked to reinvigorate bilateral trade.

Please join us for an online discussion with Soo Hyuck Lee, the Korean Ambassador to the United States, as he looks back on the evolution of seventy years of bilateral cooperation and examines what lies ahead for the relationship’s next seventy years.

Speaker

Soo Hyuck Lee
Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the U.S.

Moderator

Jisoo Kim
Director, GW Institute for Korean Studies; Co-Director, East Asia NRC

Speaker

Ambassador Lee is an experienced Diplomat and former Legislator, Ambassador Lee has served as Korean Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States since October 2019. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Lee served as a Member of the 20th Korean National Assembly, where he was a member of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, an Endowed Chair Professor at Dankook University in Seoul and First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service. He was previously the Ambassador to Germany, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Minister Counselor at the Korean Embassy in the United States. Ambassador Lee has published multiple works, including Conversations with Unified Germany (2006), Transforming Events – Analysis of North Korea’s Nuclear Issues (2008), and North Korea is a Reality (2011). He has twice been awarded the Order of Service Merit. He received his BA in International Relations from Seoul National University and MA in Political Science from Yonsei University. He is married with two sons.

[9/10/2020] Landlocked Cosmopolitan Locks-Down: Mongolia’s COVID-19 Response

August 13, 2020September 14, 20202020-2021, Past EventsLeave a Comment

“Landlocked Cosmopolitan Locks-Down: Mongolia’s COVID-19 Response“

Part of the East Asia NRC’s Current Issues in East Asia series; co-sponsored with the UC Berekely Institute of East Asian Studies

Livestream via WebEX

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Event Description

Mongolia has been hailed for its COVID-19 response. Though the country lies between Russia and China, its first recorded case was that of a French national employed by France’s state uranium and nuclear company Orano. At the same time, given continuing border closures and stoppages of international flights, Mongolians abroad have had great difficulty repatriating into the summer. Campaign platforms for parliamentary elections campaigns in June heavily focused on increasing trade, logistics, tourism, and other forms of cross-border movement. This talk will address questions around the implications of Mongolia’s COVID-19 response and its position in international economy, politics, and society.

Speaker

Marissa Smith
Anthropologist, Central Asia Working Group, UC Berkeley Institute of East Asian Studies

Moderator

Benjamin Hopkins
Co-Director, East Asia National Resource Center

Date & Time

Thursday, September 10, 2020

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM EDT | 2:00 – 3:15 PM EDT

Note: Registration closes at 5:00pm EDT on September 9. This event is on the record, open to the public, and will be recorded. Advance questions can be sent to gweanrc@gwu.edu with subject “Mongolia Q&A” or directly entered into Webex during the event.

Media inquiries must be sent to Jason Shevrin, jshevrin@gwu.edu. If you need specific accommodations, please contact gweanrc@gwu.edu with at least 3 business days’ notice.

Speaker

Marissa Smith is an anthropologist and Mongolia expert. She currently collaborates with the Central Asia Working Group at UC-Berkeley and is writing about regional and local governance, “raw material” economies, and Mongolia-Russia relations. Her latest publication is “Power of the People’s Parties and a post-Soviet Parliament: Regional infrastructural, economic, and ethnic networks of power in contemporary Mongolia,” in the Journal of Eurasian Studies.