The saga of King Sukjong, Queen Inhyeon, and Concubine Jang Hui-bin is one of the most famous episodes in the 500-year-long history of Joseon dynasty. Filled with palace intrigues and passionate love affairs, the story of the 19th king of Joseon, his virtuous queen, and one of the most infamous women in the history of Joseon dominates the popular culture and imagination even today. But what was the real story behind the legend?
Professor Minsoo Kang, who recently published a translation of Record of the Virtue of Queen Inhyeon, Lady Min, speaks about the importance of this story, the historical myth that has built around the characters, and its place in modern Korean society.
The King, the Virtuous Queen, and His Wicked Consort
Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 6 PM (EST)
The Korea Society 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, NY 10017
Minsoo Kang is an associate professor in European history, with specialities in the cultural and intellectual history of France, England, and Germany in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. In addition to articles in numerous journals, he is the author of Sublime Dreams of Living Machines: The Automaton in the European Imagination (Harvard University Press), The Story of Hong Gildong (Penguin Classics), and Invincible and Righteous Outlaw: The Korean Hero Hong Gildong in Literature, History, and Culture (University of Hawaii Press). His translation of Record of the Virtue of Queen Inhyeon, Lady Min appeared in Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature and Culture.
Since the pandemic started, restaurant and food service businesses had to combine flexibility and ingenuity in order to survive. Constantly dealing with ever-changing regulations and restrictions, restaurateurs had to quickly pivot and develop new business models, including outdoor dining and shipping nationwide.
Join us for a roundtable conversation with three Korean American restaurateurs in New York – Christina Jang of New Wonjo; Simon Kim of Cote; and Ray Park of Red Poke – as they discuss the challenges they face during the pandemic and the future of restaurants.
Restaurants in the Covid-19 Era: A Roundtable
Thursday, March 4, 2021 | 6 PM (EST)
The Korea Society 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, NY 10017
Christina Jang is the owner and operator of New Wonjo, a Korean barbeque restaurant in the heart of Koreatown in New York City. newwonjo.com
Simon Kim is the Proprietor of COTE Korean Steakhouse, New York City’s first KOREAN STEAKHOUSE™, and COTE Miami – now open in Miami’s Design District. www.cotenyc.com & cotemiami.com
Ray Park is the founder of Red Poke, a Korean fast casual restaurant in New York, and Pado, which will be relocated to Williamsburg. His new Korean fried chicken restaurant Seoul Fried Chicken Co. is opening in Edison, NJ. www.redpoke.com; www.padonyc.com; www.sfc-co.com
Woodrow Wilson Center director of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy Jean Lee converses with senior director Stephen Noerper on ROK-DPRK relations. They address impasse and opportunity between North Korea and South Korea and offer recommendations for US and other policy makers on peninsular realities and possibilities. This program is made possible thanks to support from the Korea Foundation.
The Columbia University’s Center for Korean Research (CKR) is a promotional partner for this program.
New Developments in Inter-Korean Relations with Jean Lee
Thursday, March 4, 2021 | 12 PM
The Korea Society 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, NY 10017
Jean H. Lee is a Pulitzer-nominated veteran foreign correspondent and expert on North Korea. Lee led the Associated Press news agency’s coverage of the Korean Peninsula as bureau chief from 2008 to 2013. In 2011, she became the first American reporter granted extensive access on the ground in North Korea, and in January 2012 opened AP’s Pyongyang bureau, the only Western text/photo news bureau based in the North Korean capital. She has made dozens of extended reporting trips to North Korea, visiting farms, factories, schools, military academies and homes in the course of her exclusive reporting across the country.
Lee served as a Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar and Global Fellow before joining the Asia Program as Korea Center program director. She is a contributor to the New York Times Sunday Review, Esquire magazine and other publications. She appears as an analyst for CNN, BBC, NPR, PRI and other media, and serves frequently as a guest speaker on Korea-related topics. She is a member of the National Committee on North Korea and Council of Korean Americans.
In the second episode of our Women’s Leadership series, we are pleased to welcome South Korean Minister for Trade Yoo Myung-hee for a conversation on her 25-year career in shaping the international trade infrastructure. As Deputy Minister for FTA Negotiations, and later Director-General for Bureau of Trade Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, Yoo Myung-hee has been at the forefront of numerous high-profile trade agreements, including the 2018 US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) and the 2019 Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. In the midst of the ongoing pandemic, Minister Yoo has been integral in reforming Korea’s trade policy to respond to the current crisis as well as providing an outlook on the future of multilateral trade after COVID-19. The first female trade minister for the Republic of Korea, Minister Yoo will speak on her accomplishments and challenges in the field of international trade and cooperation as well as remark on her candidacy for Director-General of the World Trade Organization as one of two final candidates.
Moderated by Ambassador Kathleen Stephens, former US Ambassador to Korea and Korea Society Board Chair, this discussion offers a unique opportunity to gain insight from two pioneering female leaders in the U.S. -Korea relationship.
Women in Trade: A Talk with Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee
Premieres: Friday, February 26, 2021 | 7 PM EST
The Korea Society 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, NY 10017
H.E.Yoo Myung-hee Minister for Trade Republic of Korea
Education
• 2002 Juris Doctor, Vanderbilt University Law School • 1995 M.A. in Public Policy, Seoul National University • 1990 B.A. in English Language and Literature, Seoul National University
Work Experience
• Mar. 2019 – Present Minister for Trade, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) • 2018 – 2019 Deputy Minister for FTA Negotiations, MOTIE • 2017 – 2018 Director General for Bureau of Trade Policy, MOTIE • 2015 – 2017 Director General for FTA Negotiations and East Asia FTA, MOTIE • 2014 – 2015 Spokesperson for Foreign Media, Office of the President • 2010 – 2014 Program Director, APEC Secretariat, Singapore • 2007 – 2010 First Secretary (2007-2008) and then Counsellor (2009-2010), Korean Embassy in China • 2006 – 2007 Director, FTA Services Negotiation Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) • 2005 – 2006 Director, FTA Policy Division, MOFAT
ABOUT THE MODERATOR:
Amb. Kathleen Stephens Chair, Board of Directors, The Korea Society President & CEO, Korea Economic Institute
Ambassador (ret.) Kathleen Stephens is a former American diplomat. She was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea 2008-2011. Korea has been a leit motif of Ambassador Stephens’ life and career since she served in rural Korea as a Peace Corps volunteer and trainer, 1975-1977. She was in Korea 1983-1989, first as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul reporting on Korea’s domestic political and human rights scene, and later leading the U.S. Consulate in Busan.
Other overseas assignments included postings to China, former Yugoslavia, Portugal, Northern Ireland, where she was U.S. Consul General in Belfast during the negotiations culminating in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and India, where she was U.S. Charge ‘d Affaires (2014-2015).
Ambassador Stephens also served in a number of policy positions in Washington at the Department of State and the White House. These included acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (2012), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2005-2007), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (2003-2005), and National Security Council Director for European Affairs at the Clinton White House.
Stephens was William J. Perry Fellow for Korea at Stanford University 2015-2018. She is a Mansfield Foundation Distinguished Fellow, Pacific Century Institute board chairman, vice-chair of the board of trustees for The Asia Foundation, and board chair of The Korea Society.
She has been President and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of America since September 2018, based in Washington, DC.
Join us for a discussion about scenarios for North Korean development and inter-Korean economic integration. Seoul National University economics Professor Byung-Yeon Kim, former World Bank economist and a consultant on Asian affairs Brad Babson, and NK Pro analyst Peter Ward join Korea Society President Tom Byrne in conversation. Together, they investigate what domestic reforms will be necessary to empower development and forecast potential roles for South Korea, the U.S. and the international community. Korea Society Policy Director Jonathan Corrado moderates audience questions.
This program is supported by a grant from the UniKorea Foundation.
This event is co-sponsored by the Columbia University’s APEC Study Center.
Pathways to a Brighter Future for North Korea’s Economy with Byung-Yeon Kim, Brad Babson and Peter Ward
Thursday, February 18, 2021 | 6 PM EST
The Korea Society 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, NY 10017
Byung-Yeon Kim is Professor in the Department of Economics at Seoul National University (SNU) and the author of Unveiling the North Korean Economy: Collapse and Transition (2017). His research interests lie in the fields of transition economics and applied econometrics, in particular with reference to North Korea as well as former socialist countries. He received his B.A. and M.A. from SNU and his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford.
Brad Babson worked for the World Bank for 26 years before retiring in 2000 and has studied the North Korean economy and written extensively on economic perspectives on the integration of North Korea into the international community. He serves on the Advisory Council of the Korea Economic Institute of America, the World Economic Forum Global Futures Council on the Korean Peninsula, and the Steering Committee of the National Committee for North Korea. He was formerly theChair of the DPRK Economic Forum at the U.S.-Korea Institute, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has consulted for the World Bank and United Nations and been involved in projects sponsored by various institutes, foundations and universities.
Peter Ward is a writer and researcher focusing on the North Korean economy, as well as a PhD candidate at the University of Vienna.
Celebrate the Year of Ox with a virtual concert by Ak Dan Gwang Chil a.k.a. ADG7! This award-winning Korean traditional music group’s powerful and engaging performance will immerse audiences into a spiritual experience and bring blessings of positive energy to kick off a new year.
The nine-member ensemble presents itself not as earnest traditionalists, but as a giddy show band with all the trappings of K-pop — choreographed singers, candy-colored costumes and bouncy, upbeat, often swinging songs that link the concision of folk tunes to the catchy repetition of pop, with brash cymbals for drive and flute and zither lines for instrumental hooks. – The New York Times
There’s a flowering folk-roots revival in South Korea, but no band combines virtuosity, charisma, and pure energy like Ak Dan Gwang Chil. – WFMU
Ak Dan Gwang Chil (ADG7) is a multi-award winning Korean traditional music group, featuring six Korean traditional musicians and three powerhouse female folk singers. ADG7 performs repertoire from the sacred, shamanic and secular gut (ritual music) and minyo (folk song) traditions of the Hwanghae-do region, nowadays a western province of North Korea.
ADG7 was organized in 2015, to the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Their music expresses the true meaning of liberation and South Korea’s desire for reunification. They recently won multiple awards including Best Group at the 2018 KBS Korean Traditional Music Award and Sori Frontier Award at the 2017 Jeongju International Sori festival. ADG7 has recently performed at WOMEX (World Music Expo) 2019 and globalFEST 2020 as one of their official artists, and became one of 2020-2021 Mid Atlantic Tour Roster Artists.
Band Members: Hyun Soo Kim (Daeguem); Hyang Hee Lee (Piri & Saenghwang); Hyerim Park (Ajaeng); Meondongmaru Weon (Gayaguem); Hyunjun Chun (Percussion); Jinyoung Sunwoo (Percussion); Chorong Bang (Singer); Hee Rim Wang (Singer); and Minyoung An (Singer)
ADG7: A Virtual Concert
Friday, February 12, 2021
The Korea Society 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, NY 10017
Celebrate the Year of Ox with us! The Korea Society is pleased to invite you to our members-only VIRTUAL New Year’s Party on Thursday, February 11, beginning at 6 PM EST.
This annual event celebrates our members who support us throughout the year. Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic, we continue this meaningful tradition by presenting a virtual concert of ADG7, a multi-award winning Korean traditional music group, for our members and their friends. Get acquainted with the talented members of ADG7 and enjoy their ingenius music!
We are also pleased to welcome Ambassador Chang Won-sam, Consul General of Consulate General of the ROK in NY as our special guest. Ambassador Chang will address brief remarks on his vision for the U.S.-Korea relationship during the event.
Furthermore, there will be a silent auction and virtual raffle featuring amazing new year’s gifts as well! Place your bid online to win Tiffany Atlas Men’s Watch through our silent auction. We will draw winners for amazing raffle items during the event, which will make it a more exciting evening. Don’t miss your chance to win beautiful items from LIE SANG BONG, $300 Amazon gift cards, and more!
So become a member or renew your membership today and enjoy the special evening filled with music, gifts, and love for Korea! All members can invite up to five guests to the party.
Get ready to spread a little New Year’s cheer with ADG7’ stunning performance, and virtually toast to good fortune in the Year of the Ox with friends, members, and supporters of The Korea Society!
Amb. Won-sam Chang Consul General Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in New York
About ADG7Virtual Silent AuctionVirtual Raffle DrawingSupport LevelSponsors
About ADG7
“The nine-member ensemble presents itself not as earnest traditionalists, but as a giddy show band with all the trappings of K-pop — choreographed singers, candy-colored costumes and bouncy, upbeat, often swinging songs that link the concision of folk tunes to the catchy repetition of pop” – The New York Times
Ak Dan Gwang Chil (ADG7) is a multi-award winning Korean traditional music group, featuring six Korean traditional musicians and three powerhouse female folk singers. ADG7 performs repertoire from the sacred, shamanic and secular gut (ritual music) and minyo (folk song) traditions of the Hwanghae-do region, nowadays a western province of North Korea. Their powerful engaging performance will immerse audiences into a spiritual experience and bring blessings of positive energy originating from gut and minyo.
Thank you for your interest in this year’s auction item. The auction is now closed, and we will contact the winner shortly.
Starting bid is at $250, and the minimum bid will be updated every day at 10 AM EST through the bidding sheet form. Bidding sheet will be closed on February 11th at 10 AM EST. The winner will be announced at our Annual Membership Party.
Virtual Raffle Drawing
All registered guests are eligible to be selected as winners for a virtual raffle drawing. You must register by 10 AM EST on February 11 to be part of the raffle. Make sure to put all your guests’ names and email addresses. Registration without the information won’t be considered for the raffle drawing.
1) $300 Gift Amazon Card
2) LIE SANG BONG Woven Silk Jacquard Tie for Him (retail value $110)
3) LIE SANG BONG Oversized Tortoise Frame Sunglasses for Her (retail value $320)
4) Soju Haus Gift Card – $40 per Winner ($20 x 2 Cards) Three winners to be announced.
5) Book ‘Korean Culture Dictionary’ written by Woosung Kang
6) Glow Recipe K-Beauty Products (total retail value $271)
Gift Set A(retail value $130) New Blueberry Cleansing Gel 160ml Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner Dew Drops Watermelon Glow Ultra Fine Mist
Gift Set B (retail value $141) Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask Plum Plump Hyaluronic Serum 30ml Papaya Sorbet Enzyme Cleansing Balm Watermelon Lip Balm
7) Mama O’s Premium Kimchi & Homemade Kimchi Kit
Mama O’s Premium Kimchi 1/2 Gallon -1 Mama O’s Premium Homemade Kimchi Kit -1
Support Level
Please join us as an event sponsor and enjoy your brand’s visibility to our members, many of whom are key business executives, diplomats and young professionals interested in the U.S.-Korea relations. We will prominently recognize your generosity at the event and on our website and social media. Please find more details on the benefits of each sponsorship as below.
Event Sponsorship
Gold – $2,000 • Verbal Recognition as a Gold Sponsor during the event • On-screen recognition with logo by level before and after the event • Acknowledgement by level on the website and social media • 25 additional tickets to the party • One year individual membership (Patron level at $500/year)
Silver – $1,000 • Verbal Recognition as a Silver Sponsor during the event • On-screen recognition with logo by level before and after the event • Acknowledgement by level on the website and social media • 15 additional tickets to the party • One year individual membership (Fellow level at $250/year)
Bronze – $500 • On-screen recognition with logo by level before and after the event • Acknowledgement by level on the website and social media • 10 additional tickets to the party • One year individual membership (Supporter level at $150/year)
In-kind donation is also welcome.
For sponsorship inquiries, please contact Yun Park, Development Officer, at yun.park@koreasociety.org.
A tender and sweeping story about what roots us, Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves to an Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
Please join us for a special advance virtual screening of Minari, followed by a taped conversation with writer/director Lee Isaac Chung, producer Christina Oh, and Steven Yeun, moderated by Ramy Youssef.
The film and taped conversation will be available Thursday, Feb 4 at 8 PM EST – Sunday, Feb 7 at 11 PM EST. Once you begin, you will have 4 hours to complete the film before the link expires.
Special Virtual Screening: Minari
Thurs, Feb 4 at 8 PM EST – Sunday, Feb 7 at 11 PM EST
The Korea Society 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, NY 10017
In our inaugural episode of The Korea Society’s Women in Leadership series, we are pleased to welcome Ambassador Kathleen Stephens for a conversation on her distinguished career. Having extensive experience in international relations, Amb. Stephens, a decorated former U.S. diplomat, will share her special and deep connections to Korea. She will also highlight her involvement in promoting the U.S-Korea relationship as a former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Peace Corps volunteer, and current President of Korea Economic Institute and Chair of The Korea Society.
Please join our inspiring interview with Amb. Stephens as she remarks on her challenges and progress in her glass ceiling shattering career, as well as her efforts to support and amplify women’s voices. The discussion will be led by a moderator, Vivian Lee, Emmy-winning TV journalist.
A Conversation with Ambassador Kathleen Stephens
Premieres: Thursday, January 28, 2021 | 6 PM
The Korea Society 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, NY 10017
Amb. Kathleen Stephens Chair, Board of Directors, The Korea Society President & CEO, Korea Economic Institute
Ambassador (ret.) Kathleen Stephens is a former American diplomat. She was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea 2008-2011. Korea has been a leit motif of Ambassador Stephens’ life and career since she served in rural Korea as a Peace Corps volunteer and trainer, 1975-1977. She was in Korea 1983-1989, first as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul reporting on Korea’s domestic political and human rights scene, and later leading the U.S. Consulate in Busan.
Other overseas assignments included postings to China, former Yugoslavia, Portugal, Northern Ireland, where she was U.S. Consul General in Belfast during the negotiations culminating in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and India, where she was U.S. Charge ‘d Affaires (2014-2015).
Ambassador Stephens also served in a number of policy positions in Washington at the Department of State and the White House. These included acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (2012), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2005-2007), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (2003-2005), and National Security Council Director for European Affairs at the Clinton White House.
Stephens was William J. Perry Fellow for Korea at Stanford University 2015-2018. She is a Mansfield Foundation Distinguished Fellow, Pacific Century Institute board chairman, vice-chair of the board of trustees for The Asia Foundation, and board chair of The Korea Society.
She has been President and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of America since September 2018, based in Washington, DC.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Vivian Lee TV Journalist
Vivian Lee is an Emmy-winning TV journalist.
She anchored and reported for NY1 for 13 years on issues of vital local and national interest, including Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, Pope Francis’ historic visit to the US, and Hurricane Sandy. Vivian also hosted an arts and culture show, “Spotlight New York,” focusing on the creative landscape of the five boroughs.
Along with anchoring continuous live coverage of major breaking news elstories, she reported for 25 years from the field on breaking news stories of the day.
Vivian’s career in New York started at WNBC in 2002, where she was a general assignment reporter for six years. Before that she was CityTV Toronto’s Parliamentary Correspondent in Canada’s capital, Ottawa. She graduated with honors from Carleton University’s prestigious journalism program, and after stints as a reporter in Halifax and Ottawa, became evening news anchor in Calgary, Alberta. Before covering national affairs in Ottawa, she filed in as anchor and reported for CityPulse News.
Vivian has received numerous awards recognizing her industry and community contributions, including the 2019 Lifetime Engagement Award from the Korean American Family Service Center in New York, and a 2020 Emmy Award for her story on Joe’s Pub in Manhattan.
She lives in New York with her husband and two daughters.
North Korea senior analysts Robert Carlin and Glyn Ford speak about the political and economic implications of the party congress with senior director Stephen Noerper. Stanford University’s Carlin and Track2Asia’s Ford provide critical insight on possibilities for change, impasse and next steps in this timely, newsmaker event. This program is made possible thanks to support from the Korea Foundation.
The Columbia University’s Center for Korean Research (CKR) is a promotional partner for this program.
North Korea’s Eighth Party Congress with Robert Carlin and Glyn Ford
Tuesday, January 26, 2021 | 12 PM
The Korea Society 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, NY 10017
Bob Carlin is a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). From both in and out of government, he has been following North Korea since 1974 and has made 25 trips there. He recently co-authored a lengthy paper to be published by the London International Institute of Strategic Studies, entitled “Politics, Economics and Security: Implications of North Korean Reform.” Carlin served as senior policy advisor at the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) from 2002-2006, leading numerous delegations to the North for talks and observing developments in-country during the long trips that entailed. From 1989-2002, he was chief of the Northeast Asia Division in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State. During much of that period, he also served as Senior Policy Advisor to the Special Ambassador for talks with North Korea, and took part in all phases of US-DPRK negotiations from 1992-2000. From 1971-1989, Carlin was an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he received the Exceptional Analyst Award from the Director of Central Intelligence.
In over 25 years in the EP Glyn Ford developed an unrivaled expertise on East Asia as a Member of the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committees. When he left the European Parliament in 2009, Glyn Ford founded the consulting company Polint, which he still leads today. However, in parallel, he continued his political and academic engagement with the DPRK and the East Asian region. These activities, which have always been conducted on a ‘non-profit’ basis, are now carried out in the framework of Track2Asia. Thanks to his engagement with the DPRK, he is now considered one of the most pre-eminent European experts on the Korean peninsula in particular, and East Asia in general. A sample of this expertise can be seen in his books “North Korea on the Brink” (Pluto Press,2008 and later translated into Japanese and Korean) and “Talking to North Korea” (Pluto Press,2018).
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