After the US Presidential Election: Gauging the Results for Korea and Northeast Asia

Washington insiders Keith Luse, Executive Director of the National Committee on North Korea, and Frank Jannuzi, President and CEO of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, reflect on the results of the US Presidential election for Korea and Northeast Asia in conversation with Senior Director Stephen Noerper. Luse and Jannuzi, both longtime, former Senate Foreign Relations Committee senior staff members, opine on the impact by way of policy and personalities, as well as potential new initiatives.

This event is co-hosted by the Columbia Business School’s APEC Study Center.

 

After the US Presidential Election: Gauging the Results for Korea and Northeast Asia
with
Keith Luse and Frank Jannuzi

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020 | 12 PM

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

 

 


ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Frank Jannuzi joined the Mansfield Foundation as President and Chief Executive Officer in April 2014. He previously served as Deputy Executive Director (Advocacy, Policy and Research) at Amnesty International, USA. There he shaped and promoted legislation and policies to advance universal human rights, protect individuals and communities at risk, and free prisoners of conscience. From 1997-2012 Mr. Jannuzi was Policy Director, East Asian and Pacific Affairs, for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he advised Committee Chairmen Joseph Biden and John Kerry on a range of security, political, economic, and human rights issues pertinent to U.S. relations with East Asia.

Keith Luse is the Executive Director of the National Committee on North Korea. Previously, Luse was the Senior East Asia Policy Advisor for Chairman and later Ranking Member Senator Richard G. Lugar at the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2003 until 2013. Luse also served as Staff Director for Mr. Lugar at the Senate Agriculture Committee from 1999 through 2002, where the Senator also served as Chairman and later Ranking Member. While at the Senate Agriculture Committee, Luse made the first of eventually five trips to North Korea.


 

Korean-American Directors: A Roundtable

After the success of Crazy Rich Asians and Parasite, the demand for representation of Asians and Asian-Americans on screen is rising. But what about behind the camera? Listen to our conversation with three Korean-American directors – Andrew Ahn, So Yong Kim, and Lee Isaac Chung– as they discuss their films and careers, their experience of working within and outside of the Hollywood system, and the challenges they face when they try to bring their own story to the screen.

Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), this program will be conducted virtually. This live session will be provided free of charge at the specified date and time. A limited number of viewing links will be provided to the people who sign up through the form below. Those unable to view the live session will have the opportunity to watch the recorded video or listen to the podcast soon after.

 

Korean-American Directors: A Roundtable
with
Andrew Ahn, So Yong Kim and Lee Isaac Chung 

Thursday, October 29, 2020 | 6 PM (EDT)

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

 

 


ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Andrew Ahn is a Korean-American filmmaker born and raised in Los Angeles. An alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve, Ahn participated in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the Film Independent Screenwriting Lab with his feature screenplay Spa Night, which received the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award. His latest film, Driveways starring Hong Chau and Brian Dennehey, was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. 

Lee Isaac Chung was born in Colorado and grew up on a small farm in Lincoln, Arkansas. His debut feature Munyurangabo was an Official Selection at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. His latest film, Minari, won both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

So Yong Kim was born in Busan, Korea, and grew up in Los Angeles. Kim received the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for her debut feature In Between Days. Since then Kim has directed three feature films (Treeless Mountain, For Ellen, and Lovesong) and countless television series episodes, including Transparent, American Crime, The Good Fight, and On Becoming a God in Central Florida.

 


 

Artist Talk: Soonchoel Byun

Soonchoel Byun‘s solo exhibition at the Korea Society Gallery, his first one in New York in two decades, showcases nine photographs from his 2015 series Eternal Family which records and digitally creates a reunion between family members separated by the Korean War. Created with utmost sensitivity and respect for the personal and historical tragedy, Byun’s art is a poignant reminder of the devastating consequences of the war that still remains today.

Byun recorded his artist talk in Seoul, Korea, where he lives and works. He is joined by Professor Young Min Moon of University of Massachusetts Amherst, painter and art critic.

Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), our gallery is open only by appointment. The appointment must be made at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled visit. To make an appointment, please contact info@koreasociety.org. All visitors will be required to wear a mask as well as complete the safety questionnaire upon arrival.

 

Artist Talk: Soonchoel Byun
with Soonchoel Byun and Young Min Moon

PREMIERES: Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday 10 AM-4:30 PM
By Appointment Only

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

 

 


ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Soonchoel Byun studied at the School of Visual Art in New York, and he has exhibited widely since then. Known for his vivid portraits of people from diverse backgrounds, Byun presents a candid yet sincere depiction of contemporary Korean life as it evolves with time.

Young Min Moon is Professor in the Department of Art, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Moon’s art and art criticism reflect his migration across cultures and his awareness of the hybrid nature of identities forged amid the complex historical and political relationships between Asia and North America. His most recent publication is a chapter on contemporary Korean art history in A Companion to Korean Art (Wiley, 2020). He is a recipient of 2014 Guggenheim Fellowship.

 


 

New Views on Korean Peace Regime and Unification

Join us for this discussion on prospects for a peace regime and inter-Korean social integration with Frank Aum, United States Institute of Peace, Hannah Song, President & CEO at Liberty in North Korea, Rachel Minyoung Lee, former intelligence analyst for the U.S. government, and Joseph Kim, Human Freedom Initiative, George W. Bush Institute. How might the U.S. and South Korea cooperate with regional partners to pursue a long term peace process? How do generational dynamics and social changes in North and South Korea affect inter-Korean cooperation? 

This program is supported by a grant from the UniKorea Foundation.

 

 

New Views on Korean Peace Regime and Unification 
with
Frank Aum, Hannah Song, Joseph Kim and Rachel Minyoung Lee   

Thursday, October 15, 2020 | 11 AM

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

 

 


ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Frank Aum is the senior expert on North Korea at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He oversees the Institute’s work on North Korea and focuses on ways to strengthen diplomacy to reduce tensions and enhance peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. From 2010 to 2017, he worked at the Department of Defense, including as special counsel to the Army General Counsel, special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, and senior advisor on North Korea in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. During this time, he advised four secretaries of defense on issues related to Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula. Aum also served as head of delegation for working level negotiations with the Republic of Korea on U.S.-ROK Alliance matters, and received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.

Hannah Song is President and CEO of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK). She joined in 2006 as Deputy Director, managing day-to-day operations and coordinating overseas programs, including underground shelters and refugee resettlement efforts in the United States and in South Korea. At the end of 2008, she became President/CEO, helping to re-found the organization with a new mission focused on building international support for the North Korean people, providing direct assistance to North Korean refugees, and developing long-term, people-focused strategies to accelerate positive change inside the country. Hannah regularly speaks at international fora and to the media on North Korea-related issues.

Joseph Kim is an assistant and Expert in Residence on the Human Freedom Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute. He was born and raised in North Korea. In 2006, Joseph escaped North Korea and went to China. In China, he connected with an international NGO called Liberty in North Korea (LiNK). A year later, he left China for the United States and claimed refugee status under the North Korean Human Rights Act, signed by President George W. Bush in 2004. In 2013, Joseph delivered a TED Talk on the importance of hope and published a memoir, “Under the Same Sky”. Joseph interned as a research assistant at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Korea Chair.

Rachel Minyoung Lee is a former North Korea analyst and collection specialist at the CIA’s Open Source Enterprise (formerly OSC). For two decades, she collected and analyzed open source information and wrote time-on-target reports on the gamut of North Korean domestic and foreign policy issues for US policymakers. She strategized and led collection and analysis from OSE’s Seoul office in some of the most momentous years in recent North Korean history, including the years leading up to and following Kim Jong Un’s succession, the series of missile and nuclear tests, and the two Kim-Trump summits. She is currently an independent researcher of North Korea.  


A Sacred Emblem: Trefoil in Early Korean Metalwork and Beyond with Dr. Minjee Kim

Photo credit: Ruth Hogben for ABT

Trefoil or “three-leaved plant” is a stylized form found in artifacts and architecture across culture and time. Dr. Minjee Kim begins the story with her first encounter with a gold headdress ornament of the Balhae kingdom (698-926) and traces the migration of its trefoil form throughout the 4th-6th century across Asia. Then, she travels to France, where “fleur-de-lis” adorned French crowns, clothing, textiles, and furniture as a symbol of royalty, leading to its wide contemporary appropriation by many Western institutions. The journey ends with the long and rich tradition in Kyrgyzstan where the motif is still strongly embedded in various realms of material culture of the people.

While offering a view on Korean artifacts within a wider context of material resonance in human history, Dr. Kim highlights the way these artifacts adorned the body and how the craftsmanship was employed to articulate the social hierarchy.

Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), this program will be conducted virtually. This live session will be provided free of charge at the specified date and time. A limited number of viewing links will be provided to the people who sign up through the form below. Those unable to view the live session will have the opportunity to watch the recorded video or listen to the podcast soon after.

A Sacred Emblem: Trefoil in Early Korean Metalwork and Beyond
with Dr. Minjee Kim

Thursday, October 8, 2020 | 6 PM

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

 

 


ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Minjee Kim is a historian and lecturer specializing in Korean dress and textiles, based in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2001. She received her PhD from Seoul National University, and formerly taught at Jeonju Kijeon College and Seoul National University in Korea, and Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She is a co-editor of Korean Dress History: Critical Perspectives on Primary Sources  (London: Bloomsbury, forthcoming in 2021).

 


 

Looking Toward the US Presidential Election and Korea and Northeast Asia Policy

Daniel Russel, Vice President for International Security and Diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, and Susan Thornton, Project Director of the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale University, join Senior Director Stephen Noerper for a discussion on the upcoming US Presidential election, with an eye to US policy implications for Korea and Northeast Asia. This all-star session draws on the vast foreign service experience of both Russel and Thornton, who helped lead US policy respectively as Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Looking Toward the US Presidential Election and Its Impact on Korea and Northeast Asia Policy
with
Daniel Russel and Susan Thornton

Thursday, October 1, 2020 | 12 PM

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

 

 


ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Daniel Russel is Vice President for International Security and Diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI). Previously he served as a Diplomat in Residence and Senior Fellow with ASPI for a one year term. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service at the U.S. Department of State, he most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary on July 12, 2013, Mr. Russel served at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for Asian Affairs. During his tenure there, he helped formulate President Obama’s strategic rebalance to the Asia Pacific region, including efforts to strengthen alliances, deepen U.S. engagement with multilateral organizations, and expand cooperation with emerging powers in the region.

Susan A. Thornton is Project Director of the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security at the NCAFP, Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School and Senior Fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center. In 2018, she retired from the State Department after a 28-year diplomatic career focused primarily on East and Central Asia. In leadership roles in Washington, Thornton worked on China and Korea policy, including stabilizing relations with Taiwan, the U.S.-China Cyber Agreement, the Paris Climate Accord and led a successful negotiation in Pyongyang for monitoring of the Agreed Framework on denuclearization.


Designing and Adapting Korean Language Instruction for Virtual Delivery

Many language programs and instructors have needed to quickly change from in-person to online instruction modes this year. If you are looking for ways to improve your delivery, join us to explore tools and best practices for virtual classroom set-up and management. Dr. Sang-Seok Yoon, Associate Professor of Instruction and Korean Language Coordinator at the University of Iowa’s Asian & Slavic Languages and Literatures Department, and Dr. Bumyong Choi, Senior Lecturer and Korean Language Program Coordinator at Emory University’s Department of Russian and East Asian Languages and Cultures, share their expertise on designing and adapting Korean language instruction for the online classroom. Facilitating a Q&A with the speakers is Dr. Joowon Suh, President of the American Association of Teachers of Korean (AATK) and Senior Lecturer in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Director of the Korean Language Program at Columbia University.

 

Designing and Adapting Korean Language Instruction for Virtual Delivery
PREMIERES: Wednesday, September 30, 2020

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

 

 


 

 

A Conversation with Hee Seo

Photo credit: Ruth Hogben for ABT

Listen to our conversation with Hee Seo, the first Asian ballerina to be named principal dancer – ballet’s highest title – at the American Ballet Theatre, as she discusses her illustrious career and thoughts on the future of performing art.

Her dancing and fluid line exude an unhurried purity that sums up all that is lovely about ballet. – The New York Times

 

Sign up here to receive the viewing link

 

Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), this program will be conducted virtually. This live session will be provided free of charge at the specified date and time. A limited number of viewing links will be provided to the people who sign up through the form below. Those unable to view the live session will have the opportunity to watch the recorded video or listen to the podcast soon after.

A Conversation with Hee Seo
Thursday, September 24, 2020 | 6 PM

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

 

 


ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Hee Seo began her ballet training in her hometown at the Sun-hwa Arts Middle School. She continued her training at the Universal Ballet Academy in Washington, D. C.and at the John Cranko Ballet Academy in Stuttgart. She is the recipient of the 2003 Prix de Lausanne Award and the 2003 Grand Prix at the Youth American Grand Prix in New York. Seo joined the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in 2004 and the main Company as an apprentice in May 2005. Seo was appointed a Soloist in August 2010 and a Principal Dancer in July 2012. In 2015, Seo established Hee Seo Foundation in Korea to help underprivileged prospective ballet dancers.

 


 

East Goes West: Younghill Kang, His Life and Works

Drawing by Karl Stevens for the New York Review of Books

What if the finest, funniest, craziest, sanest, most cheerfully depressing Korean-American novel was also one of the first? – Ed Park

Join Alexander Chee and Ed Park in their conversation on Younghill Kang, the first Korean-American novelist and a pioneer of Asian American literature. As they discuss the life and career of Kang and his novel East Goes West, the two eminent writers reflect on the emergence of Korean American literature in the 20th century and Kang’s legacy.

Central to it are the lives of the other Koreans….living in America, all waiting for their full humanity— and their intellectual and artistic gifts — to be recognized. – Alexander Chee

 

Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), this program will be conducted virtually. This live session will be provided free of charge at the specified date and time. A limited number of viewing links will be provided to the people who sign up through the form below. Those unable to view the live session will have the opportunity to watch the recorded video or listen to the podcast soon after.

To order East Goes West, please visit:
 https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/606933/east-goes-west-by-younghill-kang-foreword-by-alexander-chee-afterword-and-notes-by-sunyoung-lee/

East Goes West: Younghill Kang, His Life and Works
with Alexander Chee and Ed Park

Thursday, September 17, 2020 | 6 PM

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

 

 


ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Alexander Chee is the bestselling author of the novels The Queen of the Night and Edinburgh and the essay collection How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. The winner of a Whiting Award, he is an associate professor of English and creative writing at Dartmouth College.

Ed Park is the author of the novel Personal Days and the founding editor of The Believer. He has been a newspaper, magazine, and book editor, and his writings have appeared in the New York Times and the New York Review of Books.

 


 

Global Financial Leaders Forum 2020

The Maekyung Media Group, The Korea Society, and Korea Finance Society are co-hosting the Global Financial Leaders Forum 2020 on September 16th. This year, the Global Financial Forum will be a part of The World Knowledge Forum, a renowned platform where global opinion leaders gather and seek how to reduce knowledge gaps and promote balanced economic growth and prosperity. The event will be held as an online-offline hybrid format for the first time in accordance with the safety regulations and health concerns regarding COVID-19.

Through our annual Global Financial Leaders Forum, we strengthen the network among Korean financial leaders and Wall Street specialists with Korean financial leaders working in New York and Seoul. With the theme “Investment Strategy in COVID-19 Era,” we will further a discussion on the management of fiscal challenges and investment outlook in the current market volatility we are experiencing with the COVID-19 outbreak. The forum is invitation-only, and the participants will get a dedicated viewing link closer to the event.

 

Global Financial Leaders Forum
Investment Strategy in COVID-19 Era

The Hotel Shilla, Seoul Korea
– Hybrid format event –

Invitation Only
September 16, 2020 | 7:30 PM EDT (September 17, 2020 | 8:30 AM KST)

 


SPEAKERS:

 

Moderator:

Sunghwan Shin, Dean of School of Business, Hongik University
Sunghwan Shin is currently a professor of finance and the dean of Hongik school of business, Hongik University. For three years from 2015, Dr. Shin was the president of Korea Institute of Finance (KIF), a leading think tank in Korea focusing on micro and macro financial policies. Before the KIF, Dr. Shin has been a faculty member at Hongik University except for the three year period from 1998 when he left for the World Bank to work as a risk manager and senior financial officer. Dr. Shin’s major extracurricular activities and social services include the president of the Korea Money and Finance Association and the Korea Pension Association.

Dr. Shin was a steering committee member of the KIC and is currently leading the public fund evaluation board of the government. Dr. Shin is currently a non-executive board member of Hanjin Kal Corporation and Truston Asset Management. Dr. Shin received a BA in economics from the Seoul National University in 1985 and a PhD in finance from the Sloan School of Management at MIT in 1993.

Presentation:

Jim Barry, CIO, BlackRock Alternative Investors and Global Head of Blacklock Real Assets
Jim Barry, Managing Director, is the Chief Investment Officer of BlackRock Alternatives Investors (BAI) and Global Head of BlackRock Real Assets. BAI manages over $175 billion in total assets and client commitments with a team of over 900. As CIO, Mr. Barry is responsible for providing leadership to the alternatives investment teams in all regions across the Real Estate, Infrastructure, Hedge Funds, Private Equity and Credit businesses.

BlackRock Real Assets comprises BlackRock’s Infrastructure and Real Estate businesses, which have c. 400 professionals across 27 cities globally, and manage c. $50 billion in equity and debt assets and investor commitments. He is responsible for determining the overall strategic direction of the Real Assets platform, implementing the platform’s investment strategies and leading platform growth initiatives. Mr. Barry founded BlackRock’s Infrastructure business in 2011 upon joining the firm. In 2016, he took responsibility for BlackRock’s Global Real Estate Investment business by integrating both Infrastructure and Real Estate to create one cohesive, scalable Real Asset operating platform with a range of client orientated strategies defined by their risk positioning. Under his leadership this business has grown from $34 billion to c. $50 billion in assets.

Prior to joining BlackRock, Mr. Barry spent 11 years as the CEO of NTR plc, where he led the transformation of NTR from its origins as an Irish toll road developer into a leading international developer, owner and operator of a portfolio of diverse infrastructure businesses. Prior to joining NTR, Mr. Barry worked at Bain and Company and in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley. Mr. Barry earned a BComm from University College Cork in 1989 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1994.

Panels:

Anushka Sunder, Managing Director, Blackstone Private Equity Group
Anushka Sunder is a Managing Director in the Private Equity Group. Ms. Sunder focuses primarily on Blackstone’s private equity investments in healthcare and technology. Since joining Blackstone in 2013, Ms. Sunder has been involved in the execution of Blackstone’s investments in Blue Yonder, the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD), HealthEdge, InComm, NCR, Optiv, Outerstuff, and TeamHealth and serves on the Board of Directors of Blue Yonder, CARD, HealthEdge, Optiv, and TeamHealth. She is a member of the Investment Committee of Blackstone’s Impact Investing fund, co-chair of the Blackstone Women’s Initiative task force, and on the Blackstone Charitable Foundation Leadership Council.

Before joining Blackstone, Ms. Sunder was an associate at TPG Capital and an analyst at Goldman Sachs in the Financial Institutions Group. Ms. Sunder received an AB in Economics from Harvard College, where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute scholar at the National Institutes of Health and co-authored a paper in the Journal of Neuroscience. She is also a member of the Corporate Leaders Program at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Jae S. Yoon, CIO, New York Life Investment Management
Jae Yoon is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM). He serves as the Chair of the Investment Governance Committee, responsible for the oversight of the investment performance of the strategies managed by NYLIM’s boutiques and affiliate portfolio teams. Additionally, Mr. Yoon leads the Strategic Asset Allocation & Solutions (SAS) team which manages third-party multi asset strategies and economic analysis for New York Life.

Previously, he was responsible for investment risk and strategy efforts at NYLIM’s investment affiliate MacKay Shields. Prior to joining NYLIM, Mr. Yoon was Head of Quantitative Research, Analytics, and Risk Management globally at Western Asset Management. Previously, he was with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers where he served as the Head of Risk and Performance for the Pacific and European Regions in Tokyo and London, respectively. Mr. Yoon also worked at JP Morgan Securities in Asia as regional head of Risk Management Control for Fixed Income and Equity Derivative Trading.

Dong Hun Jang, CIO, Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA)
Mr. Jang joined the firm in November 2015 as a Chief Investment Officer of POBA. As the CIO, he has senior management oversight of the firm’s investments totaling around US $13 bil. and leads the firm’s strategic expansion in overseas investment areas, reflecting the growing importance of asset size and portfolio diversification. He is responsible for portfolio investments including equity, fixed income, and alternatives. Previously, Mr. Jang was the Assistant Director in the Financial Supervisory Services (FSS) of Korea.

With 30 years of experience in the Korean investment industry including managing equity and PEF portfolios for the National Pension Service, he is an all-rounded investment executive, who has worked across multiple functions including the CEO of AllianceBernstein Asset Management (Korea) and across private and government sectors. He is a member of investment advisory committees for Government Employees Pension Service, Police Mutual Aid, Mutual Aid for Small Enterprises & Enterprisers, National Housing Fund, Scientists & Engineers Mutual Aid, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. Mr. Jang earned an MBA from University of Iowa and a Ph.D. from Dongguk University.