The morning session was chaired by Dr. Chungin Moon who is the Republic of Korea's ambassador for international security and a professor at Yonsei University. The session was open to the public. It got underway with two keynote presentations: The South Korean-United States Alliance: Vagaries of a Future Relationship-A Personal View by David I. Steinberg of Georgetown University; and Vision and Tasks for the Future of the ROK-U.S. Alliance: A Korean View by Sung-han Kim of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security. These presentations were followed by a panel discussion between American and Korean experts.

The discussion was continued during an afternoon session that was closed to the public. Other leading experts on ROK-U.S. relations joined with the panelists from the morning session to explore in depth issues such as the DPRK's nuclear weapons program, wartime operational control of ROK armed forces and security in Northeast Asia. The participants offered a number of policy recommendations, including principally a recommendation that a blue-ribbon panel should be established to study in depth the issues confronting the U.S.-ROK relationship. There was a follow up discussion of this recommendation during a subsequent meeting of the members of a blue ribbon panel steering committee.

A summary of the discussion during the conference and the recommendation to establish a blue ribbon panel can be found in the rapporteur's report prepared by Dr. Leon Sigal of the Social Science Research Council.