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Author: Yurim Oh

Korean Sool 101

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Join us for a fun evening to learn about – and taste! – the signature alcoholic beverages of Korea: Soju and Makgeolli: what makes them so unique and tasty, and how they are becoming ever so popular outside of Korea. Meet the young Korean Americans continuing and putting their own marks on the tradition.

Free tasting included. Must be 21 years or older to attend.


Korean Sool 101

with Alice Jun of Hana Makgeolli and Daniel Lee of West 32 Soju

Thursday, October 10, 2019 | 6 PM

The Korea Society
350 Madison Ave.
24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

 

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About the Speakers:

Alice Jun is a champion for authentic Korean food and drink, and has been brewing makgeolli since she was a child. She started Hana Makgeolli as a passion project, but due to overwhelmingly positive feedback she received on her makgeolli, she is building Hana Makgeolli as the foremost purveyor of artisanal Korean rice alcohol in the U.S.

Daniel Lee introduced soju, the popular Korean spirit, to his friend at George Washington University, Maxwell Fine, some time ago in New York. The two decided to make their own without artificial sweeteners and other additives, as a sideline to their day jobs in finance and law. Named for the Manhattan block known as Koreatown, they introduced West 32 Soju in 2017.

China-Korea Relations

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Senior analyst Yang Xiyu, Senior Fellow at China’s Institute of International Studies, joins Society Senior Director Stephen Noerper for a discussion of China’s role on the Korean Peninsula, its relations with South Korea, recent meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and China’s commitment to denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. An experienced diplomat, Yang was the inaugural director of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Office for Korean Peninsula Issues.

This program enjoys the support of Columbia University’s Center for Korean Research (CKR).

 

 


China-Korea Relations

with

Yang Xiyu

 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 | 12 PM

The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

 

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North Korea: Peace? Nuclear War?

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Harvard University’s William Overholt discussed the release of his new edited volume, North Korea: Peace? Nuclear War? with Society President Tom Byrne. Overholt tackled the range of approaches to North Korea, the interplay of development and security, leaders Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un, and challenges to alliance management.


North Korea: Peace? Nuclear War?

with

William Overholt

 

Thursday, October 3, 2019 | 12 PM

The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

 

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Seunggu Kim Better Days

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CURRENT EXHIBITION | October 3-December 18, 2019 |

Reception and Panel Discussion on Contemporary Photography in Korea: Thursday, November 14, 2019 | 6 PM

The Korea Society is pleased to present Better Days, a solo exhibition featuring the photography of Korean artist Seunggu Kim.

Better Days is a series of photographs depicting what the artist describes as “Korean spectacles.” South Korea’s rapid development in the last 50 years has caused a lot of social ironies and incongruities, one of them being long working hours with very short period of break. Due to lack of time to travel, many Koreans end up spending holidays mostly around their hometown. The leisure places around Seoul and its suburbs try to entertain their customers by creating events and environments with increasing novelty, and the result is often an interesting blend of nature and artifice.

Using his camera to show the balance between unnatural elements and our own acclimation to the social ironies, Seunggu Kim describes and poses a question about our lifestyle and how we live.

Seunggu Kim graduated from Department of Photography, Sangmyung University in 2007 and received an M.F.A from the School of Visual Arts, Korea National University of Arts in 2012. He had five solo exhibitions in Seoul and had participated in numerous group exhibitions all over the world, including: Aperture Gallery, New York; Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing; Somerset House, London; 72 Gallery, Tokyo; and Filter Space, Chicago. He was the Grand Prix Winner, 2019 Tokyo International Photography Competition, and was named Ones to Watch by British Journal of Photography.

Gallery Hours: M-F 10 AM-4 PM Appointment Necessary

 

Seunggu Kim
Better Days

October 3-December 18, 2019

Reception and Panel Discussion on Contemporary Photography in Korea: Thursday, November 14, 2019 | 6 PM

 

@ The Korea Society 
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor, NYC

Gallery hours: 10 AM – 4:30 PM by appointment

**Pre-registration is now required for all Korea Society events, and an ID is required for security.**

For more information, please contact info@koreasociety.org or call (212) 759-7525.

 

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Happy Hour at Martos Gallery: Jennie Jieun Lee

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Meet us downtown! Join us at Martos Gallery with Assistant Director Sarah Han, and meet the artist Jennie Jieun Lee, whose solo exhibition Sizzling Gouba and Long Beach will be on view.

Complimentary drinks available

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The Korea Society Fellow, Patron and
Corporate members: FREE with registration

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Happy Hour at Martos Gallery: Jennie Jieun Lee

Thursday, September 26, 2019 | 6 PM

Martos Gallery
41 Elizabeth St
New York, NY 10013
212 560 0670

 

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About the Artist:

Jennie Jieun Lee engages in a dialogue with clay as a medium through an array of techniques including wheel-throwing, hand-building, and slip casting. Similar to how clay retains the mark of the artist’s hands, Lee embeds her work with memory and nostalgia. Though the work sometimes alludes to (or openly expresses) as forms of figuration, Lee’s use of color and gesture transcend the medium beyond sculpture, function or vessel, and begin to blur the line between painting and sculpture.

Jennie Jieun Lee (b. 1973, Seoul, South Korea) currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. She received a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1999, and an MFA from California State University, Long Beach in 2019.

Select exhibitions include: Mrs. Thompson’s Mirror, Martos Gallery New York; Marlborough Chelsea: Viewing Room, New York; Seizure Crevasse, The Pit, Los Angeles; Am I Ugly, Cooper Cole, Toronto; Smile Purgatory, Galerie Lefebvre et fils, Paris; Immigrant’s Ear, Levy Delval, Brussels; Object Painting – Painting Object, Jonathan Viner, London; Life Eraser, Brand New Gallery, Milan; and Halsey McKay, New York.

Select awards and fellowships include: CSULB Graduate Research Fellowship, 2018; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, 2017; Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant 2016; Artadia New York Award, 2015.

Korea-Japan Relations and the US Role

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Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Sheila Smith joined Korea Society Chairman Ambassador Thomas Hubbard for a discussion on the recent challenges to Korea-Japan relations posed by the dispute over Japanese export controls. Amid the growing discord, Smith and Hubbard weigh in on possible offramps and paths forward, as well as the nature of the US role in facilitating discussion among its two Northeast Asia allies. Co-sponsored with the Japan Society.

 

2016 03 03 korea-japan-relations JPS-logo


Korea-Japan Relations and the US Role

with

Sheila Smith and Thomas Hubbard

 

Thursday, September 12, 2019, 2019 | 12 PM

The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

 

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Speakers

Ambassador Thomas Hubbard: is Chairman of The Korea Society and senior director at McLarty Associates, where he specializes in Asian affairs. A career foreign-service officer for nearly forty years, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 2001 to 2004, and before that as Ambassador to the Philippines from 1996 to 2000. He served seven years in Japan and was deputy chief of mission and acting ambassador in Malaysia. He held key Washington postings, including assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs. Ambassador Hubbard was a principal negotiator of the 1994 Agreed Framework aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and headed the first senior-level U.S. government delegation to North Korea. He was also President Clinton’s envoy to promote human rights and democracy in Burma. Ambassador Hubbard sits on numerous advisory boards. He received his BA in political science from the University of Alabama and has been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Maryland and the University of Alabama.

Dr. Sheila Smith is an expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy, is senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). She is the author of Intimate Rivals: Japanese Domestic Politics and a Rising China (Columbia University Press, 2015) and Japan’s New Politics and the U.S.-Japan Alliance (Council on Foreign Relations, June 2014). Her current research focuses on how geostrategic change in Asia is shaping Japan’s strategic choices. In the fall of 2014, Smith began a new project on Northeast Asian Nationalisms and Alliance Management . Smith is vice chair of the U.S. advisors to the U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Exchange (CULCON), a bi-national advisory panel of government officials and private sector members. She teaches as an adjunct professor at the Asian Studies Department of Georgetown University and serves on the board of its Journal of Asian Affairs. She earned her MA and PhD degrees from the department of political science at Columbia University.

Artist Talk: Jung Hee Choi with Jay Sanders

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FREE with RSVP

““…while watching Ms. Choi’s hallucinatory screen, you may find yourself in an altered state of consciousness, on the verge of some ineffable, transcendental revelation.” – The New York Times.

Jung Hee Choi’s solo exhibition Black: Trans: Maya: Light at the Korea Society focuses on her series of light point drawings and graphite drawings. Utilizing both traditional and experimental techniques, Choi presents mesmerizing images that capture and transfigure light.

In this Artist Talk, Choi will be joined by Jay Sanders, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Artists Space.

 

ARTIST TALK: JUNG HEE CHOI
with Jay Sanders

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 | 6 PM

@ The Korea Society 
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor, NYC

Gallery hours: 10 AM – 4:30 PM by appointment

For more information, please contact info@koreasociety.org or call (212) 759-7525.

 

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About the Speakers

Jung Hee Choi has exhibited and performed widely in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including Dia Art Foundation, Guggenheim Museum, Berliner Festspeile, and FRESH Festival in Bangkok. Choi received her B. A. and M.A. in art and sound from New York University, and she is a senior disciple of La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela in the classical Kirana vocal tradition. She founded with them The Just Alap Raga Ensemble in 2002. The New York Times listed Choi’s Tonecycle for Blues performed by her Sundara All Star Band as one of The Best Classical Music Performances of 2017.

Jay Sanders was named as Executive Director and Chief Curator of Artists Space in 2017. Prior to his tenure at Artists Space, Sanders was at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where he successfully reshaped its performance program and curated important exhibitions and event series, including 2012 Whitney Biennial. He has also served as a director of Greene Naftali Gallery and curated programs, series, and events for New York institutions such as White Columns, Sculpture Center, Performa, Anthology Film Archives, and Electronic Arts Intermix.

Making North Korea Creditworthy: What Will It Take to Finance Its Post Nuclear Development?

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The U.S. and South Korea have promised a bright future for North Korea if it denuclearizes. Reform is fundamentally North Korea’s choice. But a successful economic transition will take a long time given that North Korea remains stuck in a low-income trap. Pyongyang’s “marketization from below” and ring-fenced infrastructure projects will not be enough. North Korea will require substantial and sustained amounts of external financing, hence the need for it to establish creditworthiness. The path to a bright future is institutional reform and the normalization of relations with the international community, and the gateway is the IMF.

Simply stated, North Korea must accomplish the following to establish even a modicum of creditworthiness: Restructure external debt, normalize relations with creditors; Engage the IMF, join the World Bank and regional development banks; Seek technical assistance for capacity building; Improve transparency; Obtain an international credit rating; Further strengthen economic institutions.

Korea Society President Tom Byrne and Associate Director of Policy Jonathan Corrado are primary authors of a new report investigating how North Korea might develop creditworthiness in order to finance its post-nuclear development. The report’s findings were first presented on June 19, 2019, at The Korea Economic Institute (KEI) in Washington D.C. The project was made possible through the generous support of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP).



The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

 

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ARMISTICE DAY SALUTE 2019

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66th Anniversary of Signing of Korean War Armistice
to be Commemorated Friday, July 26, 2019 at Noon in Battery Park

Dozens of U.S. and South Korean Veterans, Council Member Vallone, and Korean Consul General to Attend as Plaque with Updated Casualties Statistics Unveiled

JULY 26, 2019 — NEW YORK —A ceremony to honor those who served in the Korean War will take place on Friday, July 26, 2019, at 12 noon at the New York Korean War Veterans Memorial in Battery Park, New York. The event, which marks the 66th Anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953, is hosted by the nonprofit, nonpartisan The Korea Society, which promotes awareness, understanding and cooperation between the United States and Korea.

The ceremony will feature the unveiling of a plaque that shows the newly updated Republic of Korea figures for casualties, wounded and missing in action in the war that waged from 1950-1953. Since the creation of the New York Korean War Veterans Memorial in 1991, the original statistics have been dramatically revised. South Korea’s official count has grown to 137,899 dead, 450,742 wounded, and 24,495 missing, while on the American side, the U.S. government reports 36,574 American dead, 103,284 wounded and more than 7,800 missing.

The creation of the plaque is a collaborative initiative including active participation from New York City Council Member Paul Angelo Vallone (19th District), the Battery Conservancy, and the New York Korean Consulate.

The event will honor New York-based Veterans of the Korean War representing both the U.S. Armed Forces as well as the South Korean military.

The 20-minute ceremony will commence with the Presentation of Colors. Thomas J. Byrne, President of The Korea Society, and Ambassador Hyo-Sung Park, Consul General of the Republic of Korea in New York, will provide welcoming remarks. Council Member Vallone, who represents northeast Queens, will make brief remarks as will Salvatore Scarlato, President of the New York Department of the Korean War Veterans Association. The ceremony will conclude with Retiring of Colors and Solemn Taps played by SSG Daniel Haddock, West Point.
 “Today’s ceremony reminds us of the strong, continued U.S.-South Korea alliance that remains vibrant and crucial to peace and prosperity in the region, thanks to those who fought and died for both countries in the Korean War,” said Korea Society President Byrne.

THE KOREA SOCIETY (https://www.koreasociety.org) is an NYC-based, private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization celebrating its 62nd year dedicated solely to the promotion of greater awareness, understanding, and cooperation between the people of the United States and Korea.

ARMISTICE DAY SALUTE 2019
Friday, July 26, 2019 | 12 PM
Korean War Memorial at Battery Park
New York, NY 10004

 

ARMISTICE DAY SALUTE 2019

Friday, July 26, 2019 | 12 PM

Korean War Memorial at Battery Park
New York, NY 10004

 

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Lessons Learned with In Seon Hwang

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The Korea Society and The Korea Finance Society hosted another Lessons Learned program in the summer of 2019. Mr. In Seon Hwang, managing director of Warburg Pincus, shared his experiences and insights gained through his career in finance. This program will be moderated by KFS President Andrew Kim.

The Lessons Learned program consists of senior level finance professionals sharing their career stories and advice with the audience. It is a perfect opportunity for networking and every young professional in New York looking to further develop their career is encouraged to come.

 


Lessons Learned

with

In Seon Hwang

 

Thursday, July 18, 2019 | 6:30 PM

The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

 

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Speaker

In Seon Hwang

In Seon Hwang is based in New York, joined Warburg Pincus in 2004 and led the firm’s investment activities in the global healthcare, consumer and retail sectors. In Seon was also a member of the firm’s Executive Management Group. He began his career at WP in the energy group. He has led the firm’s investments in CityMD, Modernizing Medicine, Vertice Pharma, Outset Medical, SOC Telemed, Targa Resources (NYSE: TRGP), Navitas Midstream, Zenith Energy, Venari Resources, Competitive Power Ventures and APT Power.

Previously, he worked at a middle market private equity firm GSC Partners in New York, the M&A group at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong and the Boston Consulting Group in Seoul. In Seon serves on the boards of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, The Gillen Brewer School, and Hope for New York. He received a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.