International Relations

Barak Obama’s talk at Hanguk University of Foreign Studies (March 26, 2012)

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Here is the talk that President Obama delivered at the Hanguk University of Foreign Studies on Monday. Much speculation in Korea as to why he picked this university, as opposed to Korea University. Well you could say that many of the rank and file of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are from Hanguk University of Foreign Studies, as opposed to the political appointees from Korea University. But honestly, we do not know.

The speech is quite interesting because of the specificity about Korean culture and society that it brings up. A serious effort to engage in Korea.

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Joong Ang Monthly Asia Institute Interview with Richard Bush (In Korean 월간중앙) April 2012

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In this interview with Richard Bush, director of the Center for Northeast Asia Policy Studies at Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., we discuss recent developments in China and the important role of Korea in Northeast Asia and around the world.

 

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Report on the Asia Institute Seminar on Nuclear power in North Korea (March 22, 2012)

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Stephane Mot published this article about the lively discussion at the Asia Institute seminar on North Korea’s nuclear program held on Thursday.

 

Dr. Kim Myungja
President Green 21
(former minister of the environment; author of “The
Nuclear Dilemma”)
Dr. Sok Chul Kim
Senior Researcher
Korea Institute for Nuclear Safety
Ms. Sharon Squassoni
Director
Proliferation Prevention Program
CSIS
Mr. Scott Snyder
Senior Fellow for Korea Studies
Director of the Program on U.S.-Korea Policy
Council on Foreign Relations

North Korea and Nukes: Back to the Stone Age?

As expected, North Korea set the agenda ahead of the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit (see focus on Seoul Village), this time by announcing for April a ‘satellite’ launch in the general direction of (Japan, thank Kim The Third for small mercies) the East China Sea.

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Joong Ang Monthly Asia Institute Seminar with Nayan Chanda (in Korean)

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This article is the Korean version of the Asia Institute Seminar with Mr. Nayan Chanda. Mr. Nayan Chanda serves as the Director of Publications and the Editor of YaleGlobal Online Magazine at theYale Center for the Study of Globalization. he is a distinguished author and long-time journalist–best known for breaking stories from the Far Eastern Economic Review. The interview concerns Korea’s new global role and the long-term process of globalization that has formed our world.

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“DMZ International Peace Residency” Symposium

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Emanuel will be a discussant on Saturday, March 17, 2012,  at a symposium concerning the “DMZ International Peace Residency” established adjacent to the DMZ near Yeoncheon by the Institute for Modern Art of Kyung Hee University.

Here is a short description of the event:

The Institute for Modern Art at Kyung Hee University, taking as its subject the “wound of global conflict” that defines the division of the Korean Peninsula strives to imagine how we can use culture and art to heal that wound.

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Korean propriety for a network society in Kookmin Daily News (in Korean)

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Here is my article on Korean propriety for a network society in Korean in Kookmin Daily News

국민일보   2012년 03월 05일

“네트워크 시대 열어갈 한국 禮學”

하버드대에서 한국 고전문학을 공부했을 때 조선시대의 문학가들인 김만중 박지원 정약용의 글을 좀 읽어봤다. 그 글에 ‘예학(禮學)’이라는 학문에 대한 언급이 참 많았다.

한국의 예학은 단지 관혼상제(冠婚葬祭)의 사례가 모이는 것보다 사회질서를 평화로운 수단으로 유지하는 헌법에 가까운 성격의 제도라는 느낌이 들었다. 현대적인 인간과 인간 사이를 관리하는 방식으로 보이기에 매우 신선했다.

우리는 이른바 네트워크 시대에 살고 있다. 네트워크 속에서 개인으로 구성되는 복잡한 관계가 중대한 영향을 미치는 시대다. 이런 관계는 페이스북이나 다른 소셜 네트워크를 통해 이뤄지지만 사실 우리는 그것이 무엇인지 제대로 알지도 못하는 실정이다.

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Asia Institute Seminar with Dr. Richard Bush, Director of Brookings Institute Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies

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 The Asia Institute

Seminar

February 13, 2012

 

(With support of the Global Peace Youth Corps)

 

Speaker:

Dr. Richard Bush

Director

Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies

Brookings Institution

 

Moderator:

Emanuel Pastreich

President

The Asia Institute

(Associate Professor, Kyung Hee University)

 

Emanuel Pastreich

Thank you for joining us this afternoon. We live in an age in which China’s impact on the world is growing daily, and yet many have only a very vague idea of how China actually works. Your insights are most valued. Tell us a little about your current research on China and Northeast Asia.

Richard Bush

I spend most of my time conducting research on China-Taiwan relations these days. I am currently writing a book on contemporary Taiwan-China relations in which I trace the relationship and offer my views on prospects for the future. I also dabble in other aspects of East Asian Security issues from time to time. I have done a long report on North Korea and its nuclear programs. I have written about China-Japan security relations as well.

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