On the eve of President Obama's reported first meeting with President Lee Myung-bak, the "New Beginnings" policy study group is releasing its recommendations to the Obama administration for strengthening U.S.-South Korean relations. The group includes former Under Secretary of State Michael H. Armacost, former Ambassador to Korea Thomas Hubbard, The Korea Society President Evans J. R. Revere, Shorenstein APARC Director Gi-Wook Shin, Korea Economic Institute President Charles "Jack" L. Pritchard, and US-Korea Institute at SAIS Chairman Don Oberdorfer.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The Korea Society and Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center established the New Beginnings project last year to support an updating and expansion of the alliance based on the election of new leaderships in both countries.

The complete text of the report is available here. Download PDF

Following is a summary of the group’s observations and recommendations on key U.S.-ROK issues:

North Korea: The regime appears increasingly unlikely to give up its nuclear capabilities. While Six-Party Talks should be continued, the United States should consider bilateral talks with North Korea to explore whether a new mix of inducements and pressures might achieve U.S. and South Korean goals. Close coordination with the ROK and Japan is essential. China and Russia will apply only limited pressure to North Korea. The Obama administration should stress that the United States will never “accept” a North Korea with nuclear weapons. The United States must have a consistent, long-term strategy toencourage North Korea’s “transformation.” The United States, ROK, and Japan should seek a high-level understanding on how to deal with possible future instability in the North and offer to include China in such consultations.

Military Cooperation: The United States should fully implement the Bush administration initiatives to realign U.S. Forces Korea and transfer wartime operational control of South Korean forces to the ROK as scheduled in 2012.

Economic Cooperation: Congress needs to approve in a timely manner the bilateral free trade agreement with South Korea(KORUS FTA). This is especially important in light of the ROK’s impending conclusion of a similar agreement with the European Union. Such approval will demonstrate the United States’ commitment to free trade as a generator of growth, particularly during times of financial crisis and economic recession.

The complete text of the report is available here. Download PDF

This press release is available here. Download PDF

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Evans J.R. Revere, president of The Korea Society, hosted a panel discussion entitled "The Obama Administration and Korea: What’s in the Cards?" on an episode of Asian America TV on New York's NYC-TV-25. Joining Revere was Jeffrey Shafer, vice chairman of Global Banking for Citi, and Professor Donald Zagoria of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. The panel discussed the challenges facing the Obama Administration with regards to the United States' relationship with South and North Korea.



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