Event

70 Years of the US-ROK Alliance: The Past and the Future

2023 US-ROK Policy Forum

Date & Time

Tuesday

Apr. 18, 2023

9:00am – 1:30pm ET

Location

6th Floor Flom Auditorium, Woodrow Wilson Center

Event Sponsors

Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy

Indo-Pacific Program

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Korea Center and the Korean Association of International Studies (KAIS) hosted the 2023 US-ROK Policy Forum in advance of the April 26th US-ROK presidential summit. As President Joe Biden prepares to welcome South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to Washington, D.C., we looked back over the past 70 years of US-ROK relations, assessing progress and previewing discussion topics likely to be at the forefront of President Yoon’s state visit.

Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the US-ROK alliance, the Korea Center and KAIS gathered US and South Korean experts to assess the key issues in the alliance. The first panel assessed the continuing geostrategic concerns facing the United States and South Korea, including US-China strategic competition and the implications for South Korea, the growing North Korea threat, how to improve US-South Korea-Japan trilateral relations, and the regional implications of the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war. The second panel went beyond security to offer insights into US-ROK cooperation on economic and trade issues.

The keynote address was delivered by Edgard D. Kagan, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania at the National Security Council.

A luncheon reception followed the conference with an address by Ms. Seohyun Lee, North Korean defector and human rights advocate. Please click the word agenda above to see the full schedule for the event.

Tuesday, April 18

09:00am – 09:10am ET

Welcome Remarks

Mark A. Green
President & CEO, Wilson Center

Ihn-hwi Park
President, Korean Association of International Studies

09:10am – 09:15am ET

Congratulatory Remarks

Cheol-Hee Park
Chancellor, Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA)

09:15am – 09:30am ET

Keynote Address

Edgard D. Kagan
Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania, National Security Council, Executive Office of the President of the United States

09:30am – 10:45am ET

Panel I - Celebrating the ROK-U.S. 70th Anniversary: Shifting Geopolitics of Northeast Asia

Moderator
Sue Mi Terry
Director of the Asia Program, Wilson Center

Panelists
Victor Cha
Senior Vice President and Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Vice Dean for Faculty and Graduate Affairs and D.S. Song-KF Professor of Government, Georgetown University

Allison Hooker
Senior Vice President, American Global Strategies

Yungwoo Chun
Chairman, Korean Peninsula Future Forum

Andrew Yeo
Senior Fellow and the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korean Studies, The Brookings Institution

Kuyoun Chung
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Kangwon National University

10:45am – 11:00am ET

Coffee Break

11:00am – 12:15pm ET

Panel II - The Future of the ROK-U.S. Alliance: Redefining Security through Trade and Technology

Moderator
Scott Snyder
Senior Fellow for Korea Studies and Director of the Program at U.S.-Korea Policy, Council on Foreign Relations

Panelists
Wonho Yeon
Research fellow and the Head of the Economic Security Team at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)

Wendy Cutler
Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Society Policy Institute; Former Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative

Matthew Goodman
Senior Vice President for Economics, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Miyeon Oh
Director and Senior Faculty Lead of Korea Studies; Senior Fellow, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

Yukyung Yeo
Professor, Department of International Studies, Kyung Hee University

12:15pm – 01:20pm ET

Luncheon

Seohyun Lee
North Korea Human Rights Advocate

Introductions

Ambassador Mark A. Green

President & CEO, Wilson Center

Ihn-hwi Park

President, Korean Association of International Studies

Cheol-hee Park

Chancellor, Korea National Diplomatic Academy

Keynote Speakers

Edgard D. Kagan

Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania, National Security Council, Executive Office of the President of the United States

Seohyun Lee

North Korea Human Rights Advocate

Moderators

Sue Mi Terry

Former Director of the Asia Program and the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy

Scott Snyder

Senior Fellow for Korea Studies and Director of the Program on U.S.-Korea Policy, Council on Foreign Relations

Panelists

Victor Cha

Senior Vice President and Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Vice Dean for Faculty and Graduate Affairs and D.S. Song-KF Professor of Government, Georgetown University

Allison Hooker

Senior Vice President, American Global Strategies

Yungwoo Chun

Chairman, Korean Peninsula Future Forum

Andrew Yeo

Senior Fellow and the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, Brookings Institution

Kuyoun Chung

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Kangwon National University

Wonho Yeon

Head of Economic Security Team and Research Fellow, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)

Wendy Cutler

Vice President, The Asia Society; Former Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative

Matthew P. Goodman

Senior Vice President for Economics, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Miyeon Oh

Director and Senior Faculty Lead of Korea Studies, SAIS Johns Hopkins; Adjunct International Defense Researcher, RAND Corporation

Yukyung Yeo

Professor, Department of International Studies, Kyung Hee University

Hosted By

Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy

The Center for Korean History and Public Policy was established in 2015 with the generous support of the Hyundai Motor Company and the Korea Foundation to provide a coherent, long-term platform for improving historical understanding of Korea and informing the public policy debate on the Korean peninsula in the United States and beyond. Read more

Indo-Pacific Program

The Indo-Pacific Program promotes policy debate and intellectual discussions on US interests in the Asia-Pacific as well as political, economic, security, and social issues relating to the world’s most populous and economically dynamic region. Read more

Thank you for your interest in this event. Please send any feedback or questions to our Events staff.