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Yejin Choi

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With the ever-growing need to understand ourselves and humanity as a whole, it is necessary to examine the concepts of morality, ethics and universal values as guiding principles of the human condition. With generous support from Y.T. Hwang Family Foundation, The Korea Society presents a Series on Ethics and Common Values.

This series promotes the understanding of central themes of our human existence through a series of lectures by distinguished speakers and conversation with extraordinary individuals who exemplify the universal values in line with the mission of Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation and The Korea Society.

The Korea Society and Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation is proud to present Professor Yejin Choi who will deliver a lecture titled Beyond Scale: the Art of (Artificial) Reasoning and Discovery.

Scaling laws suggest that “more is more”: brute-force scaling of data leads to stronger AI capabilities. However, despite rapid progress on benchmarks, state-of-the-art models still exhibit “jagged intelligence,” indicating that current scaling approaches may have limitations in terms of sustainability and robustness. These limitations are sharpest at the frontier of discovery, where the goal is to produce knowledge that does not yet exist anywhere in the training distribution. In this talk, Professor Choi will discuss key insights into the strengths and limitations of LLMs, examine when reinforcement learning succeeds or struggles in reasoning tasks, and turn to what it takes to move from reasoning to discovery: test-time training that adapts models to problems they have never seen, learning to use LLMs as tools (both as cost-efficient alternatives to frontier-scale inference and as instruments for scientific discovery), and synthetic data strategies that get the best out of small language models, helping them close the gap against their larger counterparts in specific domains.

This program is made possible by the support from Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation

About the Speaker

Speaker

Yejin Choi

Yejin Choi is the Dieter Schwarz Foundation Professor and Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Computer Science and Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI). She is a MacArthur Fellow, AI2050 Senior Fellow, and was named to Time100 Most Influential People in AI (2023, 2025). Choi has received 2 Test-of-Time Awards and 10 Best/Outstanding Paper Awards at top AI conferences. She was a main stage speaker at TED 2023 and has delivered keynotes at several AI conferences including NeurIPS, ICLR, CVPR, ACL, and AAAI. Her research focuses on democratizing generative AI through smaller yet powerful language models, scaling intelligence via smarter algorithms, pluralistic alignment, and AI for science and social good. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science at Cornell University and BS in Computer Engineering at Seoul National University in Korea.

The New U.S.- Korea
Trade Risk Landscape:

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Historically, companies treated tariffs, export controls, and sanctions as separate risks managed by different departments. Today, a single business decision—whether shifting manufacturing, sourcing through China, or routing payments—can trigger overlapping consequences across all three regulatory frameworks. For companies operating across US-Asia supply chains, particularly those with China-linked manufacturing and sourcing networks, this convergence creates increasingly complex and fast-changing exposure.

This webinar examines how tariffs, export controls, and sanctions intersect in practice, moving beyond siloed compliance checklists to identify where risks compound. Drawing on real-world business scenarios, panelists with international trade and compliance expertise will offer practical frameworks for assessing cross-regime exposure and making informed strategic decisions before regulatory risks become operational liabilities.

Co-hosted with
Co-sponsor and partner logos

About the Speakers

Speaker

Katelyn Hilferty
Partner & Practice Lead, Morgan Lewis

Katelyn advises clients on international trade, national security, and regulatory compliance matters, with extensive experience in import and customs issues before the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), export controls under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR), economic sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and foreign investment reviews before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). She counsels clients across a range of industries, including nuclear energy, technology, life sciences, and financial services, helping them navigate evolving trade and national security requirements, assess regulatory risks, and address complex compliance and enforcement matters.


Speaker

Clinton Yu
Partner & Co-Chair, Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

Clinton advises U.S. and multinational companies and investors on complex international trade and national security matters, including customs and import laws, export controls, economic sanctions, and foreign investment reviews. His practice covers a broad range of issues related to U.S. tariffs and trade remedies, supply chain risk, export controls under ITAR and EAR, sanctions administered by OFAC, and national security reviews by CFIUS. He works with clients across industries including manufacturing, technology, aerospace and defense, logistics, and investment management, helping them navigate evolving regulatory requirements and assess their implications for cross-border transactions and global operations. He also represents clients in regulatory audits, investigations, enforcement matters, and trade-related disputes before federal courts. Clinton has been recognized as a Law360 “Rising Star” in International Trade and is frequently quoted in Bloomberg Law, Forbes, Law360, and Nikkei Asia.


Moderator

Chris Kim
Managing Director, Stout

Chris oversees Stout’s Asia Pacific (APAC) services, specializing in cross-border investigations, regulatory compliance, and due diligence, with particular expertise in national security, sanctions, export controls, and international trade matters. He advises clients on regulatory and compliance issues involving the FBI, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and U.S. Homeland Security, and has served as an independent auditor and compliance consultant for clients subject to U.S. and multilateral development bank settlement agreements. Prior to joining Stout, Chris served as a special agent with the FBI, investigating public corruption, transnational crime, and national security matters, including export control violations, and as a senior investigator with the World Bank Group’s Integrity Vice Presidency, where he led investigations involving multinational corporations across Asia, including China, Korea, India, Indonesia, and Singapore. He has extensive experience across the technology, financial services, healthcare, government, and professional services sectors.

 

Author Talks:
Lee Seong-bok & Anton Hur

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Mountains, rivers, trees, flowers, the dark, a cat, a train. In the elemental forms and figures of our world, Lee Seong-bok finds repositories for thought, sounding boards against which he can test his reflections. Again and again, in sequences, he probes his subjects—five “Mountain Path” poems, three “River” poems, three commentaries on the I Ching— not to solicit answers, like Moses impatiently striking the rock for water, but to savor the muted tones that echo in response.

That Summer’s End is a collection of one hundred and six poems of self-reflection and exquisite beauty—an intoxicating blend of Seon Buddhism and French Symbolism from one of South Korea’s most celebrated and influential poets. The poems of That Summer’s End, though acutely conscious of the self, are free of an inhibiting self-consciousness, speaking directly of youth, love, fear, family, grief, old age, impermanence, and all that’s central to life. As enticing as they are profound, Lee Seong-bok’s poems have made him not only a poet’s poet but a favorite of RM, leader of K-pop superstars BTS, whose support of his work on social media has brought him international attention.

In a conversation with Stine An, Lee Seong-bok and his translator Anton Hur will discuss his poetry and career.

 

Pre-order your copy of That Summer’s End here.

About the Speakers

Speaker

Lee Seong-bok

Born in Sangju, South Korea, in 1952, Lee Seong-bok is the author of eight poetry collections, as well as works of literary criticism and essays on photography. In 2023, Sublunary Editions published Indeterminate Inflorescence, a volume of 470 aphorisms collected by his students at Keimyung University, in Daegu, where he has taught creative writing and French literature for more than four decades.

 

Speaker

Anton Hur

Anton Hur is the translator of Lee Seong-bok’s Indeterminate Inflorescence. His debut novel, Toward Eternity, was published by HarperVia in 2024. In 2022 he was double-longlisted and shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, and in 2023 his translation of Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny was a finalist for a National Book Award. He lives in Seoul, South Korea.

 

MODERATOR

Stine An

Stine An is a poet, literary translator, and performer in New York City. She holds a BA in Literature from Harvard College and an MFA in Literary Arts from Brown University and is the recipient of fellowships and grants from The Poetry Project, the PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant, Yaddo, ALTA, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her publications include Today’s Morning Vocabulary (Zephyr Press, 2025) and Winter Night Rabbit Worries (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2026) by Yoo Heekyung, and S_MMER CR_SH (Sarabande Books, 2025). Their debut poetry collection, B-Dragon Suite, is a winner of the 2023 Nightboat Poetry Prize.

Global Financial Leaders Forum 2026

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The Korea Society, Maekyung Media Group, Korea Finance Society, and Korea Investment Corporation are co-hosting the Global Financial Leaders Forum 2026 on October 13 in New York.

Rapid AI growth and prolonged geopolitical conflict continue to drive uncertainty across global markets, pushing investors to seek strategies that turn volatility into opportunity and sustainable returns. Under the theme “The Profit Equation: Navigating the Age of Uncertainty,” the forum will examine the global economic outlook and explore effective investment strategies for today’s complex environment.

Ken Fisher, Chairman of Fisher Investments and one of Wall Street’s most renowned investment experts, will share his market analysis and investment philosophy. A panel of leading executives — Jean Boivin, Head of the BlackRock Investment Institute; Lauren Basmadjian, Global Head of Liquid Credit, Carlyle; and Jeremy Schwartz, Global CIO of WisdomTree — will offer diverse perspectives on navigating today’s investment landscape.

The Global Financial Leadership Forum is a premier networking platform, bringing together senior executives and financial experts from Korea and around the world to exchange insights and real-world investment experience.

Program
Time Program
5:00 PM Registration and Reception
6:00 PM Opening Session
  • Seungjoon Chang — Vice Chairman, Maekyung Media Group
  • Sang Ho Kim — Consul General of the Republic of Korea in New York
  • Abraham Kim — President & CEO, The Korea Society
  Session I — Capitalizing on Chaos: The Investment Playbook of Ken Fisher
  • Speaker: Ken Fisher — Chairman, Fisher Investments
  • Moderator: David Mussafer — Managing Partner, Advent International
  Session II — Beyond Bulls and Bears: Optimal Strategies for a Complex Market
  • Speakers: Jean Boivin — Head of the BlackRock Investment Institute, BlackRock
  • Lauren Basmadjian — Global Head of Liquid Credit, Carlyle
  • Jeremy Schwartz — Global Chief Investment Officer, WisdomTree
  • Moderator: Andrew Kim — Partner, Paulson & Co
  Dinner
  Closing Remarks
Featured Speakers
Ken Fisher
Ken Fisher

Chairman, Fisher Investments

Ken Fisher founded Fisher Investments in 1979 and currently serves as Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Investment Officer. His Portfolio Strategy column in Forbes ran from 1984 to 2016, making him the longest continuously running columnist in the magazine’s history.

Today, he writes regular investment columns for leading business publications across more than 30 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and Australia, reaching a global audience in multiple languages. He is also a frequent commentator on major international media outlets, including Fox News, Fox Business, CNN International, BBC, and BNN Bloomberg.

Ken is the author of 11 books, including four New York Times bestsellers, and is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading investment experts.

Jean Boivin
Jean Boivin

Head of the BlackRock Investment Institute, BlackRock

The institute leverages BlackRock’s expertise and produces proprietary research to provide insights on the global economy, markets, geopolitics and long-term asset allocation — all to help clients and portfolio managers navigate financial markets. Dr. Boivin oversees all of BII’s activities and is responsible for ensuring that BII integrates research insights on portfolio construction, economics and markets with the long-term, whole-portfolio perspective that BlackRock’s clients need today. Dr. Boivin, who is a member of BlackRock’s Global OpCo and the GEC Investment Committee, also is BII’s Global Head of Research. He is responsible for economic and markets research, and for developing the core principles and intellectual property that underpin BlackRock’s approach to portfolio design, such as capital market assumptions and optimization tools.

Prior to joining BlackRock in 2014, Dr. Boivin served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada and Associate Deputy Finance Minister, serving as Canada’s representative at the G7, G20 and Financial Stability Board. Dr. Boivin has also taught at Columbia Business School and HEC Montreal, and has written widely on macroeconomics, monetary policy and finance. Dr. Boivin earned a B.Sc. degree in economics from the Université de Montréal in 1995, an MA in economics from Princeton University in 1997 and a PhD in economics from Princeton University in 2000.

Lauren Basmadjian
Lauren Basmadjian

Global Head of Liquid Credit, Carlyle

Lauren Basmadjian is a Partner, Global Head of Liquid Credit within Carlyle’s Global Credit platform. She is based in New York and sits on the firm’s Liquid and Private Investment Committees.

Ms. Basmadjian joined Carlyle in 2020 after 19 years at Octagon Credit Investors, where she was a Senior Portfolio Manager and member of the Investment Committee. Prior to becoming a Portfolio Manager, Ms. Basmadjian managed Octagon’s workout efforts and oversaw the leisure & entertainment, retail, consumer products, business services, food & beverage, and technology industries.

She graduated cum laude from the Stern School of Business at New York University with a BS in Finance and Economics.

Jeremy Schwartz
Jeremy Schwartz

Global Chief Investment Officer, WisdomTree

Jeremy Schwartz has served as Global Chief Investment Officer since November 2021 and leads WisdomTree’s investment strategy team in the construction of WisdomTree’s equity Indexes, quantitative active strategies and multi-asset Model Portfolios. Jeremy joined WisdomTree in May 2005 as a Senior Analyst, adding Deputy Director of Research to his responsibilities in February 2007. He served as Director of Research from October 2008 to October 2018 and as Global Head of Research from November 2018 to November 2021.

Before joining WisdomTree, he was a head research assistant for Professor Jeremy Siegel and, in 2022, became his co-author on the sixth edition of the book Stocks for the Long Run. Jeremy is also co-author of the Financial Analysts Journal paper “What Happened to the Original Stocks in the S&P 500?” He received his B.S. in economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and hosts the Behind the Markets podcast. Jeremy is a member of the CFA Society of Philadelphia.

Moderators
David M. Mussafer
David M. Mussafer

Managing Partner, Advent International

David Mussafer is Chairman Emeritus and Managing Partner of Advent International, one of the world’s leading global private equity firms, and has over 35 years of investment experience. David joined Advent in 1990 and served as a member of Advent’s global executive committee for 25 years and succeeded Peter Brooke as Chairman of Advent in 2015.

With more than $100 billion in assets under management, Advent invests in companies across a variety of industries in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia via 17 offices around the world. David continues to serve as a member on Advent’s global investment committee and has led more than 35 investments across a range of industries. David has served on numerous public and private boards and currently serves as director of Fisher Investments and Shield AI.

David received his BS in Management from Tulane University and earned his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. David and his family are active with numerous civic and charitable organizations, and he currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Tulane University and previously served as a Member of The Business Roundtable in Washington DC. David lives in Boston and he and his wife, Marion, have four grown children and two grandchildren.

Andrew Kim
Andrew Kim

Partner, Paulson & Co

Andrew Kim is a partner at Paulson & Co, a leading event-driven hedge fund in NYC. Andrew is responsible for global risk arbitrage and event-driven investments across all sectors. Previously, he was an Investment Analyst at Perry Capital and an Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs. He graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BBA from the University of Michigan.

This program is by invitation only. For more information, please contact The Korea Society’s Business & Economics program.

ENVY:

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“What Stacy Kim understands, and what took me too long to appreciate myself, is that our darkest emotions often shed the most light. ENVY makes a rigorous, wise, and compassionate case that the feeling high achievers are most ashamed to admit may offer one of the clearest signals of what they truly want.”

— Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE POWER OF REGRET and DRIVE

We all want things that other people have. It’s natural, yet we are ashamed of how it makes us feel—a mix of inferiority, ill will, and injustice. In the West, we’re told “Comparison is the thief of joy,” and taught to avoid this “deadly sin.” Meanwhile, in Korea, people publicly make social comparisons and express their envy.

Drawing on how Koreans used their envy of Japan to transform a war-torn country into a pop-culture powerhouse, Dr. Stacy S. Kim teaches us that when we examine our envy, we can learn what we want, whom to emulate, and how to get it. ENVY: WHY WANTING WHAT THEY HAVE IS THE KEY TO GETTING WHAT YOU WANT is for those of us who do everything we can to build our best life yet still find ourselves feeling behind or unfulfilled. Thanks to social media and smartphones, we can experience this negative emotion at any hour, anywhere, and the feeling remains largely buried and unspoken. But through stories, interviews, and research, Dr. Kim provides concrete strategies on how to convert unexamined reckless use of envy into a guiding force and powerful motivator.

In a conversation with Hyeseung Song, Dr. Kim discusses her new book and research.

About the Speakers

Speaker

Stacy S. Kim

Stacy S. Kim, Ph.D. is a social scientist, career coach, and founder of Life Junctions LLC. With nearly two decades of experience, she helps conscientious high achievers untangle envy and other internal blocks to navigate the complexities of life and work and knit together lives they  love. She conducted research for the Families and Work Institute, Columbia University’s National Center for Children and Families, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Leo Burnett Company. Her work has been featured in outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times, Business Insider, CNN, and NPR.

 

MODERATOR

Hyeseung Song

Hyeseung Song is a first-generation Korean American painter, writer and teacher. She is the author of Docile: Memoirs of a Not-So-Perfect Asian Girl, about an Asian American woman’s struggle with self-worth and mental illness. Docile was a “best” audiobook at Apple and translated into Korean. Song is a 2026 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Nonfiction Literature, a Nonfiction Fellow of Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and a recipient of the Mae Fellowship which supported women and nonbinary writers.

Arts & Culture

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Arts & Culture — The Korea Society
The Korea Society · Arts & Culture

Arts & Culture

The Arts & Culture department is dedicated to promoting the excellence and diversity of Korean and Korean-American professionals across the cultural landscape — from artists and performers to authors and scholars.

Through a wide array of exhibitions and programs, we spotlight the richness of Korean culture and its heritage in the contemporary world: fine arts, literature, popular entertainment, culinary traditions, and more.

About Program Areas Watch on YouTube
About the Department

As global interest in Korean culture grows exponentially, the Arts & Culture department remains committed to supporting artists and creators across media.

Our gallery and event space in New York City serves as a vital hub in the world's cultural capital — attracting diverse visitors and providing a venue for artists and creators to engage directly with American audiences.

Our YouTube channel provides live webcasts and pre-recorded programs that promote recent activities and developments, while remaining an enduring resource for anyone interested in Korean arts and culture.

Explore

Program areas.

Six areas spanning the visual arts, literature, cuisine, media, and the performing arts.

Art & Artist

Program Area

Art & Artist

Contemporary Korea

Program Area

Contemporary Korea

Cuisine

Program Area

Cuisine

Literature

Program Area

Literature

Media & Performing Arts

Program Area

Media & Performing Arts

Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation Series

Program Area

Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation Series

Our Commitment

Spotlighting the richness of Korean culture and its heritage in the contemporary world — in fine arts, literature, popular entertainment, culinary traditions, and more.

Digital

Watch on YouTube.

Live webcasts and pre-recorded programs — an enduring resource for anyone interested in Korean arts and culture.

Visit our channel →

Donor-Advice Fund (DAF) giving

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The Korea Society
Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) giving

Support The Korea Society through your Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) using DAFpay. Your contribution helps advance our mission of strengthening U.S.–Korea relations through dialogue, exchange, and collaboration.

 
For your DAF sponsor

Legal name: The Korea Society, Inc.  ·  EIN: 52-1714111

What is a DAF?

A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a charitable giving account that allows individuals, families, and businesses to make tax-deductible contributions and recommend grants to nonprofit organizations over time.

Make a grant recommendation

You may recommend a grant to The Korea Society through your DAF sponsor using either of the DAFpay buttons on this page. Simply select your DAF sponsor to complete the grant recommendation process without leaving our website.

Important information

According to IRS guidelines, grants from Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) may not be used, in whole or in part, to pay for fundraising event tickets, tables, or any contribution that provides goods or benefits to the donor. DAF grants may only be used for contributions that are fully tax-deductible.

Unpacking the 2026 Midterm Elections:
Implications for the U.S. & Korea

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Join us for a timely discussion with a bipartisan pair of former Members of Congress analyzing America’s 2026 midterm election results and their implications for U.S. domestic politics, foreign policy, economics, and America’s dynamic relationship with South Korea. Q&A and audience participation are encouraged!

The conversation features Former Representative John Katko (R-NY, 2015-2023) and Former Representative Kathy Manning (D-NC, 2021-2025), and is moderated by Korea Society President and CEO Dr. Abraham Kim. Drawing from their distinguished legislative careers and firsthand experiences traveling to South Korea with FMC as current or former Members, Katko and Manning will explore how the election results will shape America’s politics, foreign policy, and economic outlook in the leadup to the 2028 presidential and congressional elections, including impacts on the U.S.-ROK Alliance, the U.S.-Korea trade and investment relationship, and regional geopolitics.

There will be a reception with light refreshments starting at 5:30 PM.

This program is presented in collaboration between The Korea Society, FMC’s Congressional Study Group on Korea (CSGK), and The APEC Study Center at Columbia University. This program is made possible by the generous support of our individual and corporate members and the Korea Foundation.

FMC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, non-advocacy organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. FMC’s CSGK and The Korea Society have partnered since 2018, including on CSGK’s annual current Member of Congress delegations to Korea.


 

 

About the Speakers

Speaker

The Hon. John Katko (R-NY, 2015-2023)

The Hon. John Katko (R-NY, 2015-2023) served Central New York in Congress from 2015 until his retirement in 2022. John currently serves as a Senior Advisor with HillEast Group, a government affairs and strategic communications firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and New York. Early in his career in Congress, John became a strong voice on the House Homeland Security Committee. In 2020, he was selected to lead House Homeland Security Committee Republicans. As Ranking Member, John led efforts to secure the border and prioritized a robust focus on cybersecurity, as well as transportation and airport security. Additionally, John served eight years as a member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. While serving New York’s 24th Congressional District, John achieved significant legislative success, with 98 bills passed the House and 45 signed into law. He is well-respected for his work across the aisle and was consistently ranked among the most bipartisan members of Congress by the nonpartisan Lugar Center. As Chair of the Republican Governance Group, John was responsible for expanding political engagement with results-oriented Members of Congress. Prior to serving in Congress, John spent nearly twenty years as a federal organized crime prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice. Additionally, he served as a litigator with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and as an anti-trust and commercial litigation attorney in private practice.



Speaker

The Hon. Kathy Manning (D-NC, 2021-2025)

The Hon. Kathy Manning (D-NC, 2021-2025) represented North Carolina’s Sixth Congressional District, which includes Guilford and Rockingham Counties and parts of Forsyth and Caswell Counties — an area known as the Triad.

Before her election to Congress, Kathy worked to expand access to early childhood education, college scholarships, workforce development, and assistance to those in need through nonprofit organizations including the United Way, the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, the National Conference for Community and Justice, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has also worked tirelessly on major projects to revitalize downtown Greensboro and spur economic development, including the building of a state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center. Kathy was the first woman to chair the Board of the Jewish Federations of North America, one of the largest charitable, faith-based organizations in the world, which provides assistance to communities in need around the world.

As a member of the Education and Labor Committee, Kathy was a strong advocate for early childhood education and investments in school infrastructure and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Kathy worked to increase access to vocational and technical education and apprenticeship opportunities while making higher education more affordable. As Vice Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and former Vice Chair of the Middle East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism Subcommittee, Kathy was a vocal advocate for democracy and maintaining strong relationships with United States’ allies, including Israel and Ukraine. She is also a strong advocate for the rights of women and girls around the world, including access to reproductive health care. In addition to her leadership on the Education and Labor and Foreign Affairs Committees, Kathy served as the Co-Chair of the House Bipartisan Taskforce for Combating Antisemitism and a member of the New Democrat Coalition, where she chaired the Workforce Development Task Force. Kathy is also recognized for her leadership on making health care, including mental health services, more accessible and affordable.

Kathy graduated from Harvard University and the University of Michigan Law School. She practiced law in Washington, DC, before moving to Greensboro, North Carolina in 1987, with her husband Randall Kaplan, a lawyer and business entrepreneur who has experience running a large international business as well as small startups. After serving as a partner at a large law firm, Kathy started her own small law firm specializing in immigration law. Kathy and Randall have three married children and three grandchildren who all live in New York City.



Speaker

Abraham Kim, Ph.D.

Abraham Kim, Ph.D. is the President & CEO of The Korea Society, where he leads the organization’s efforts to strengthen ties between the United States and Korea through policy dialogue, business engagement, and cultural exchange. Dr. Kim brings more than 25 years of experience in public policy, national security, and nonprofit leadership, with a career focused on U.S.–Korea relations and Northeast Asia. He has worked closely with senior government officials, business leaders, and international organizations, providing analysis and guidance on geopolitical and economic issues related to the Korean Peninsula. Prior to joining The Korea Society, Dr. Kim served as Executive Director & President of the Council of Korean Americans (CKA), where he expanded the organization’s national footprint and strengthened its role in policy engagement and leadership development. He previously served as Executive Director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at the University of Montana and as Interim President and Vice President of the Korea Economic Institute of America, where he supported public diplomacy initiatives and educational programs focused on the U.S.–Korea alliance. Earlier in his career, Dr. Kim worked as a policy and risk analyst at Eurasia Group, CSIS, and SAIC, focusing on political risk, crisis simulations, and regional security issues in Northeast Asia. He holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Political Science from Columbia University, an M.A. from Harvard University, and a B.A. from Boston University.

Hand Taste: Cook Like a Korean Grandmother with Esther Choi

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We all know cooks whose fingertips seem to infuse every meal with deliciousness. In Korean, that magic touch is called sohn-mat, or “hand taste”―but you don’t have to be born with it. Esther Choi picked hers up from her halmoni, or grandmother, who used her hands for everything from smearing cabbage with pepper paste to make kimchi to crumbling tofu for mandu (dumpling) filling and tossing vibrantly flavored noodles for japchae.

Hand taste starts with seasoning but ultimately describes a way of cooking rooted in heritage, intuition, and heart. In her hotly anticipated debut cookbook Hand Taste: Cook Like a Korean Grandmother Choi offers delicious entry points to Korean and Korean-American cuisine, with foundational techniques alongside quick weeknight recipes and show-stopping traditional spreads.

In her conversation with Eric Kim, Esther Choi will discuss her career and her debut cookbook.

Pre-order your copy of Hand Taste: Cook Like a Korean Grandmother here.

About the Speaker

Speaker

Esther Choi

Esther Choi is a chef, entrepreneur, and TV personality. She is the owner of Mokbar, with locations ranging from New York City to Las Vegas, and Ms. Yoo, a Korean-style gastropub in Manhattan. Choi is the co-host of Food Network’s 24 on 24 and the host of “Heat Eaters” by First We Feast (12.9 M subscribers), a spinoff from the hit series “Hot Ones.” Choi has been a finalist on Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend. She lives in New York City with her husband and son.


About the Moderator

Moderator

Eric Kim

Eric Kim is a New York Times contributor and essayist born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. His debut cookbook, Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home, was an instant New York Times Best Seller. A former digital manager for the Food Network and contributing editor for Saveur magazine, he now hosts regular videos on NYT Cooking’s YouTube channel and writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine.

Taeku Lee

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With the ever-growing need to understand ourselves and humanity as a whole, it is necessary to examine the concepts of morality, ethics and universal values as guiding principles of the human condition. With generous support from Y.T. Hwang Family Foundation, The Korea Society presents a Series on Ethics and Common Values.

This series promotes the understanding of central themes of our human existence through a series of lectures by distinguished speakers and conversation with extraordinary individuals who exemplify the universal values in line with the mission of Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation and The Korea Society.

The Korea Society and Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation is proud to present Professor Taeku Lee.

Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How It Could Save Democracy

Professor Lee’s latest book, co-authored with Pepper Culpepper (University of Oxford), tells the surprising story of how corporate scandals – from Enron to the Facebook privacy scandal – can change the world for the better. Drawing on a decade of research on policymaking and public opinion across wealthy democracies, Lee will talk about how scandals can ignite the public to demand better policy and protection from massive corporations run amok. Lee will also share whether these dynamics foretell a new era of economic populism in the United States and beyond.

This program is made possible by the support from Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation

About the Speaker

Speaker

Taeku Lee

Taeku Lee is Bae Family Professor of Government and Faculty Dean of Dunster House at Harvard University. Lee has researched and written extensively on racial and ethnic politics, public opinion and political behavior, identity and inequality, and deliberative and participatory democracy. He recently published Race and Inequality in America and Billionaire Backlash (with Pepper Culpepper).

Lee is also President of the American Political Science Association and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught for two decades. Lee is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the 2024 class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows. He serves on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and the Board of Overseers of the American National Election Studies. He previously served on the National Advisory Committee for the U.S. Census Bureau and the Board of Overseers of the General Social Survey and has held honorary or visiting appointments at Yale, Oxford, the European University Institute, and the Brookings Institution.

Born in Masan, Korea, Lee spent his childhood years in rural Malaysia, lower Manhattan, and suburban Michigan. He is a proud graduate of K-12 public schools, the University of Michigan, Harvard, and the University of Chicago.