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Author: Yurim Oh

Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation Series on Ethics & Common Values: A Conversation with Minister Kyung-wha Kang

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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 – morality, ethics, personal responsibility, compassion and civility – 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 Minister Kyung-wha Kang, President and CEO of Asia Society, in a conversation with Ambassador (ret) Kathleen Stephens.

 

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

 

Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation
Series on Ethics & Common Values
A Conversation with Minister Kyung-wha Kang

Tuesday, October 1, 2024 | 6 PM (EDT)


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

 

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About the Speaker:

 

Minister Kyung-wha Kang is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Society.

Minister Kang served as the first female Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, from 2017 to 2021. She is a veteran diplomat in the Korean Foreign Ministry and the United Nations, holding positions in Seoul, New York, and Geneva. Prior to her appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs, she served as Senior Advisor on Policy to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, as well as Chief of his Transition Team. Minister Kang also served as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs from April 2013 to October 2016, and was Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights from January 2007 to March 2013. Her roles in the UN marked the highest positions held in an international organization by a Korean woman.

Before entering the United Nations, Minister Kang was Director General of International Organizations in the Republic of Korea’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade, becoming the second female Korean diplomat to serve at the director level. She was a Minister in Korea’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations from 2001 to 2005, during which period she chaired the Commission on the Status of Women. Prior to joining the Foreign Ministry in 1998, Minister Kang assisted the Speaker of the National Assembly in the fields of women’s advancement and parliamentary diplomacy. Earlier in her career, she worked for the Korean Broadcasting System’s news bureau and international radio bureau, and lectured in universities both in Korea and in the United States.

Minister Kang graduated from Yonsei University and has an M.A. in mass communication and a Ph.D. in intercultural communication from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is currently a distinguished professor at the Institute for Global Engagement and Empowerment at Yonsei University in Seoul. She is also a trustee of several Korean and international non-governmental organizations.

 

About the Moderator:
 

Ambassador (ret) Kathleen Stephens was a career diplomat in the United States Foreign Service, 1978-2015. She was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea 2008-2011, the first woman and first Korean-speaker in that position. Other overseas assignments included postings to Trinidad and Tobago, China, Korea, 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. Chargé d’affaires (2014-2015).

Ambassador Stephens was William J. Perry Fellow for Korea at Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center, 2015-2018. She has served as President and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of American (KEIA) from 2018 to 2023. She is board vice-chair of The Asia Foundation and board chair of Pacific Century Institute. Ambassador Stephens’ U.S. government awards include the Presidential Meritorious Service Award (2009) and Linguist of the Year (2010). Other awards related to Korea include the Kwanghwa Medal of Diplomatic Merit, the Sejong Cultural Award, the Korean-American Friendship Association Award, the Kevin O’Donnell Distinguished Friend of Korea, AmCham Korea’s Outstanding Achievement Award, and in 2022 the First Baek Bum Kim Koo Award.

Ambassador Stephens studied at Prescott College, University of Hong Kong and Oxford University, and holds a BA Honors from Prescott. She holds a Master’s degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School. In the 1970s she was an Outward Bound instructor in Hong Kong, and a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea.

 

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A Conversation with Min Jin Lee Inaugural Lecture by Dr. Jim Yong Kim Dyadic | A Duo Exhibition
Annette Hur & Hayoon Jay Lee		 A Talk with Kyung-wha Kang

Forget Me Not: Impact of North Korean Human Rights Abuses on Families Worldwide

Posted on by Yurim Oh

Join us for a unique and special event highlighting the profound impact of North Korea’s human rights abuses, with a focus on divided families. The program opens with introductory remarks from Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and keynote remarks from United States Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. A panel discussion moderated by the U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Julie Turner will highlight the effects of North Korea’s human rights violations on families throughout the world. Perspectives include: a Korean-American separated from their family during the Korean War; the family member of a Japanese person abducted by North Korea; the family member of an unrepatriated South Korean prisoner of war; and a North Korean escapee whose sister was forcibly repatriated to North Korea by China in 2023. The panel session will close with remarks from Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel. 
 
Following the panel, a reception celebrates the opening of an interactive exhibit providing a glimpse into everyday life in North Korea. The exhibit contains a series of mini-sets that depict domestic life in North Korea, contrasted with a set of a modern, South Korean home. The exhibit will highlight the disconnect between North and South Korea and expand on themes explored during the panel.

This event is co-hosted by the Governments of the United States, Republic of Korea, and Luxembourg. This event is co-organized by a global coalition of 25 civil society partners. Coalition members include the Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo de America Latina, Center for Justice and Accountability, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Global Rights Compliance, HanVoice, Human Rights Watch, International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea, International Federation for Human Rights, Korean War POW Family Association, Liberty in North Korea, Mulmangcho, Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, Now Action and Unity for Human Rights, People for Successful Corean Reunification, Stepping Stones, Sunny Pictures, THINK, Tongilmom, Transitional Justice Working Group, Unification Academy, Unification Media Group, and UNISEED.

In-Person attendance is invitation only.

All are invited to view via live stream. 

 

 

Forget Me Not:
Impact of North Korean Human Rights Abuses on Families Worldwide

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 | 4:30 PM (EDT)


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

 

 

 
 

 

 

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About the Speakers:

 

Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel is a Luxembourgish lawyer and politician who currently serves as the 14th deputy prime minister of Luxembourg and as the minister for Foreign Affairs since 2023. He served as the 24th prime minister of Luxembourg from 2013 to 2023. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1999–2013) and Mayor of Luxembourg City (2011–2013). He pursued higher education studies at the University of Nancy, where he was awarded a master’s degree in public and European law from the Faculty of Law.

 

 
Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul currently serves as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea since January 2024. He most recently served as the ROK Ambassador to the United Nations (2016-2019). His other major appointments include Ambassador to Spain (2008-2011), and Ambassador to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva (2005-2006). Cho has held several trade-related positions, including chairman of the World Trade Organization dispute panel and Government Procurement Committee in Geneva, Ambassador for Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2011-2012), Deputy Minister of Trade (2006-2008), Director General for Bilateral Trade (2003-2005), and Deputy Director General for Trade Policy Planning and North American and European Trade (2002-2003). Cho received a bachelor’s degree in law from Seoul National University (1979) and continued his studies in public international law at the Graduate School of Seoul National University (1979-1981) and international relations at Oxford University (1982-1983).

 

 
Dr. Dafna H. Rand is the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL). Previously, she served in numerous roles across the State Department, including: Director, Office of Foreign Assistance (F); Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, DRL; Policy Planning Staff (S/P) member. From 2017-2021, she served as the Vice President of Policy and Research at Mercy Corps, a non-governmental organization working in 40 countries to support communities in need. She also served at the National Security Council during the Obama administration. Dr. Rand is the former Deputy Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and a former professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI). She started her career in government as the foreign policy and defense legislative assistant to Senator Frank R. Lautenberg. Dr. Rand’s research has focused on international security and democratic reform in the Middle East and North Africa, including two books on the subject. She earned a PhD in political science at Columbia University and an AB at Harvard University. Originally from Massachusetts, Dr. Rand now lives with her husband and three children in Maryland.

 

 
Ambassador Julie Turner was sworn in as the U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues on October 13, 2023. Ambassador Turner is globally recognized as an expert in the area of human rights and democracy and has worked over the past 20 years to strengthen democratic institutions and promote human rights throughout the East Asia and Pacific Region. Most recently, she served as the Office Director in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) Office of East Asia and the Pacific at the U.S. Department of State and previously was the Director for Southeast Asia at the National Security Council. During her time at the State Department, she served as the special assistant to the first U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights and worked as a program analyst in the Bureau of Information Resource Management Office of eDiplomacy. As a career civil service employee and former Presidential Management Fellow, Ambassador Turner has dedicated her career to advancing human rights around the world. Ambassador Turner is a graduate of Pepperdine University and the University of Maryland.

 

 

Mr. Teruaki Masumoto is the brother of Rumiko Masumoto, a Japanese citizen who was abducted by North Korea. He served as the Secretary General of the Japanese Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, an organization that works toward a comprehensive resolution of the issue of the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea, from 2003 to 2014. 

REMARKS in PDF

 

 

Ms. Son Myung-hwa is a North Korean escapee and the daughter of Son Dong-sik, a South Korean POW who was forced to work in North Korean coal mines and a logging factory for decades before he died of cancer. She currently serves as the Chair of the Korean War POW Family Association, an organization that advocates for the 110 families of South Korean POWs who were never returned to South Korea.

REMARKS in PDF

 

 

Ms. Chahee Lee Stanfield was separated from her father and brother following the start of the Korean War. She serves as the Executive Director of the National Coalition on Divided Families, an organization dedicated to reuniting Korean American families who were divided by the Korean War. Her organization’s advocacy has led to the passage of three bills designed to help Korean Americans reconnect with their family in North Korea.

REMARKS in PDF

 

 

Ms. Kim Kyu Li is a North Korean escapee who left the country in the 1990s and currently lives in the United Kingdom. Last year, her sister, Cheol-ok, a fellow North Korean escapee who was living in China, was one of 500 North Korean escapees who were repatriated to North Korea following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

REMARKS in PDF

 

 

Mr. Kim Jeong Sam is the brother of Kim Jong Uk, a South Korean missionary who was arrested after he entered North Korea with religious materials in October 2013. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment in a North Korean labour camp.

REMARKS in PDF

 

Dyadic | Annette Hur & Hayoon Jay Lee

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Exhibition: September 12 – December 13, 2024 |

In the modern tradition of abstract art, artists look beyond what we physically see. Using color, shape, line, and texture, they express strong emotional content without constraints of representation.

Two Korean-born artists based in New York present their own expositions and elucidations in Dyadic, a duo exhibition. With her bold colors and brushstroke, Annette Hur deliberately positions her paintings in between abstraction and figuration, dealing with the conflicts of the real lived experience and how her body remembers and processes it. Hayoon Jay Lee uses rice as object, motif, metaphor and visceral biomorphic forms, meticulously and meditatively arranging individual grains of rice into a surface with modeling paste to create physical and emotional topographies.

The Korea Society 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.

 

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

Click here to make an appointment

 

  Dyadic | A Duo Exhibition
Annette Hur & Hayoon Jay Lee

 

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

**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.

 

Join our membership program here!

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Annette Hur was born in South Korea and lives and works in Brooklyn. Her recent exhibitions include solo/group exhibitions at Hesse Flatow, Home Gallery, Ross + Kramer, Assembly Room, Wallach Gallery, Gavin Brown Enterprise, RegularNormal, Urban Zen, Times Square Space in New York; Phillips Auction Seoul & Hong Kong; Long Story Short LA, Helen J Gallery, Los Angeles; Unit London, London. Hur was a nominee for Rema Hor Mann Grant, a resident of BOLT Residency at Chicago Artists Coalition and she holds a BA from Ewha Women’s University, a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and MFA from Columbia University.

Hayoon Jay Lee is an interdisciplinary artist who frequently combines installations, performances, sculptures, videos and paintings. Born in Daegu, South Korea, Lee obtained both a BFA and MFA in sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Among other awards, Lee received a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship award from the U.S. Department of Education and a Full Fellowship Artist in Residency Award from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Her work can be found in the collections of the Zimmerli Museum; Asheville Museum; the Gwangju Contemporary Museum of Art; the Henan Museum in Zhengzhou, China; Hollis Taggart Gallery; and many private collections.

 

ROK- US Economic Cooperation and the Impact of the US Elections

Posted on by Yurim Oh

Over the past seven decades, the alliance between South Korea and the United States has evolved from a security-focused relationship into a robust, multifaceted partnership that now includes significant trade and investment ties. However, with the upcoming US elections, the future direction of the bilateral economic relationship is faced with ambiguity. The aim of this program is to offer the latest insights into the evolving landscape of trade and investment between our allied nations, examine their reciprocal economic impacts, and assess potential shifts in light of the upcoming US elections.

We are honored to welcome distinguished guests from Korea to this event. Mr. Inho Lee, Executive Vice Chairman of Korea International Trade Association, will deliver welcoming remarks. Additionally, His Excellency Minister Inkyo Cheong, South Korea’s Minister of Trade will offer his congratulatory remarks. The expert panel discussion will be followed by a Q & A session and networking lunch. This event is a unique collaboration between the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy of ROK; the Korea International Trade Association; the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the USA; and The Korea Society.

This is an invitation-only program. For more information, please contact Sojeong Kim at sojeong.ny@koreasociety.org.  

 

 Co-hosted by

   

 

  10:00 AM – 10:30 AM   REGISTRATION
  10:30 AM – 12:00 PM   PROGRAM
  12:00 PM – 1:30 PM   NETWORKING LUNCH

 

 

ROK- US Economic Cooperation and the Impact of the US Elections

Thursday, September 12, 2024

 

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

 

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Inkyo Cheong, H.E. Minister of Trade, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Inkyo Cheong assumed the role of Trade Minister at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), Korea, in January 2024.

Prior to this appointment, Dr. Cheong served as President of the Korea Security Agency of Trade and Industry (KOSTI), where he managed strategic material exports and imports and played a key role in the field of economic security. He also co-chaired the Advisory Committee on Commercial Negotiations and brings over 20 years of expertise in trade and commerce.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Cheong began at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) and subsequently took on various roles, including serving as policy advisor to both the Presidential Office and the National Assembly. Since 2004, Dr. Cheong has been a professor in the Department of International Trade at Inha University, where he has contributed to nurturing trade experts in South Korea and also served as Vice President in 2015.

He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Hanyang University and both his Masters and Doctoral degrees in Economics from Michigan State University.

Inho Lee, Executive Vice Chairman, Korea International Trade Association (KITA)

Inho Lee took office as the Executive Vice Chairman of Korea International Trade Association (KITA) on February 27, 2024. Prior to his appointment to KITA, he served as the President and Chairman of Korea Trade Insurance Corporation(K-SURE), Korea’s official export credit agency. In addition, Lee was the Vice Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) of Korea and he has worked for more than 30 years in the Korean government with main focus on energy and trade.

Earlier in his career, Lee worked for the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Korea to OECD. Lee is also well recognized for his remarkable contribution to successful trade negotiations while he served as the Minister-Councilor at the Korean Embassy in the U.S. from 2009 to 2014. His other significant roles at MOTIE include dealing with trade policies, developing new business sectors and supporting SME exports.

In 2016, Lee was awarded the Order of Service Merit (Red Stripes Medal) from the President of Korea in recognition of his great dedication to trade promotion. He holds BA in Economics from Seoul National University, as well as MAs in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and Seoul National University.

Taesik Han, Research Fellow, LG Business Research

Taesik Han is a research fellow at LG Business Research (LGBR) in Korea, the think tank of the LG Group since 1986. LGBR provides in-depth analysis of business environment changes to support LG’s strategic decision-making. Han’s research primarily focuses on the transformation of global supply chains in the context of geopolitical competition and geoeconomic fragmentation, with particular emphasis on the impact of U.S. industrial and trade policies amid growing political and economic polarization.

Prior to joining LGBR, Han worked at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), which operates 129 offices in 84 countries to assist Korean companies in expanding their global presence. During his time at KOTRA, he engaged in a wide range of activities, including research, global marketing, and foreign direct investment (FDI) promotion, and spent four years at the agency’s New York office (2013–2017).

Han holds a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Georgetown University and both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Economics, with a concentration in international trade, from Seoul National University.

Won Cheol Kang, Big Jump Management Officer, Schwan’s Company

Won Cheol Kang currently serves as “Big Jump” management officer at Schwan’s Company, a U.S.-based affiliate of CJ CheilJedang Corporation (CJCJ). He is responsible for leading the strategy and execution of Schwan’s global strategic products team and Ethnic Sales Division. He also leads the company’s “Big Jump” planning team, which supports long-term growth initiatives and coordinates with CJCJ headquarters in Seoul, Korea.

Won has accumulated more than two decades of experience in the food and beverage industry and joined Schwan’s after it was acquired by CJCJ in 2019. His original assignment involved post-merger integration initiatives focused on supporting rapid growth in North America. Following Schwan’s 2023 integration with CJ Foods USA in the U.S., he led the long-range strategy process in North America for global strategic products.

Prior to Schwan’s, Won initially joined the CJCJ team in 2017, with a focus on strategic planning and global business management. Earlier, he spent 10 years in Europe working for companies such as JDE (Jacobs Douwe Egberts), Mondelez International and Kraft Foods International. He has held various roles focusing on strategy planning, new business development, research and development, innovation, manufacturing and engineering.

Won holds a M.A. in business strategy and innovation from Saïd Business School, Oxford University, and a B.S. in chemical engineering from KwangWoon University in Seoul.

Yoonie Kim, Director of Business Development
Foreign Direct Investment & Economic Development, AtkinsRéalis

Yoonie Kim joined AtkinsRéalis in May 2024, a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world, as its new Director of Business Development – Foreign Direct Investment in the United States and Mexico. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Mrs. Kim will expand AtkinsRéalis’ presence in the industrial sector with a focus on attracting foreign investments from South Korean, Japanese and Chinese clients.

“More than $200 US Billion has been invested here in the States from the Asia-Pacific region in just the last three years, which is leading to incredible growth and demand for our industrial services,” said Steve Morriss, President, U.S., Latin America, and Minerals & Metals, AtkinsRéalis. “Yoonie is highly respected by companies and governments alike. She bolsters our already successful Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) market and fits exceptionally well with our accelerated industrial market growth strategy.”

Mrs. Kim is recognized for her FDI acumen connecting foreign investors, primarily South Korean companies, with American based projects over the past 18 years. Prior to joining AtkinsRéalis, she was the Director of Korean Investment for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Mrs. Kim is credited with recruiting more than 130 FDI projects to Georgia, representing over $11US billion in capital investment and creating 22,600+ jobs, including the $5.5US billion Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America. She earned high praise for her “instrumental” work securing Hyundai’s first dedicated Electric Vehicle mass-production plant during Georgia’s 2023 State of the State address from Governor Brian Kemp.

Yoonie earned her Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering and a Master of Arts in International Relations from Hanyang University in South Korea. She is fluent in English, Korean and Japanese. She loves classical music and plays piano and cello. Yoonie is on the Board of Directors at the Korea South-East U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Korea Society. She has been selected 25 Most influential Asian Americans in Georgia in 2019.

David Park, Partner, Arnold & Porter

David Park is head of the firm’s International Trade group and advises U.S. and international clients on a variety of international trade issues. He has extensive experience litigating trade remedies, including antidumping, countervailing duty and safeguard actions, before U.S. agencies, courts and the WTO, as well as counseling clients on U.S. customs, export controls and economic sanctions laws. He also counsels clients on trade policy matters, market access and WTO disputes. He represents clients before the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He has achieved a number of significant victories on behalf of his clients in major trade remedies litigation cases.

David received his B.A. in international relations from Tufts University in 1993 and his J.D. from Boston University in 1996, where he was a member of the National Appellate Advocacy moot court team. While in law school, he clerked for the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Public Protection Bureau. David also received an LL.M. in international and comparative law from Georgetown University in 2001.

He has lived in Seoul, Korea; Lagos, Nigeria; Bogota, Colombia; Ottawa, Canada; and various parts of the United States. He is fluent in Korean.

 

 

The South Korean Film Industry with Sangjoon Lee, Dal Yong Jin, and Jason Bechervaise

Posted on by Yurim Oh

South Korea’s film industry is producing movies and original series eagerly anticipated by the global audience, and it is now arguably considered one of the few countries outside the United States to have captivated the world’s hearts and minds through pop music, TV dramas, and film. Similarly, the exponential growth in the South Korean film industry has been mirrored by increasing interest from the press and academia all over the world.

The South Korean Film Industry is the first detailed scholarly overview of the South Korean film industry, discussing topics from short films to popular television series that have engaged global audiences and exploring the major changes in South Korean film making and marketing, as well as the international popularity of South Korean films.

Join us for a conversation about the South Korean film industry with three contributors to this new volume: Sangjoon Lee, Dal Yong Jin, and Jason Bechervaise.

 

The South Korean Film Industry with Sangjoon Lee, Dal Yong Jin, and Jason Bechervaise

Tuesday, September 10, 2024 | 6 PM (EDT)


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

 

Join our membership program here!

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About the Speakers:

Sangjoon Lee is an Associate Professor of Asian cinema at the City University of Hong Kong’s School of Creative Media. Lee is the author of Cinema and the Cultural Cold War: US Diplomacy and the Origins of the Asian Cinema Network (Cornell University Press, 2020; Korean edition in 2023 and Chinese edition in 2024) and the editor/co-editor of Hallyu 2.0: The Korean Wave in the Age of Social Media (University of Michigan Press, 2015), Rediscovering Korean Cinema (University of Michigan Press, 2019; 2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title), Remapping the Cold War in Asian Cinemas (Amsterdam University Press, 2024), The Routledge Companion to Asian Cinemas (Routledge, 2024), and The South Korean Film Industry (University of Michigan Press, 2024). Currently, Lee is completing a monograph titled Destination Hong Kong: South Korean Cinema’s Encounter with Sinophone Cinemas, which chronicles the seven-decade-long interactions between South Korean cinema and the diasporic Sinophone cinemas of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. He is also working on a new edited volume, Netflix and South Korean Media in a Globalizing World (Brill). Lee’s works have been translated into Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Italian.

Dal Yong Jin is Distinguished SFU Professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada, where his research explores digital platforms and digital games, globalization and media, transnational cultural studies, and the political economy of media and culture. He is the author of numerous books, including Korea’s Online Gaming Empire (MIT Press, 2010), New Korean Wave: Transnational Cultural Power in the Age of Social Media (University of Illinois Press, 2016), Smartland Korea: Mobile communication, Culture and Society (University of Michigan Press, 2017), Globalization and Media in the Digital Platform Age (Routledge, 2019), and Transmedia Storytelling in East Asia (ed. Routledge, 2020). Jin has also published many articles in scholarly journals, such as New Media and Society, The Information Society, Media, Culture and Society, International Journal of Communication, Telecommunications Policy, Television and New Media, Games and Culture, and Information Communication and Society. He is the founding book series editor of Routledge Research in Digital Media and Culture in Asia while directing the Center for Policy Research on Science and Technology (CPROST) at SFU.

Jason Bechervaise is an academic and film critic based in Seoul where he has taught Korean Cinema at Korea University and at other universities. His Ph.D thesis, titled Bong Joon-ho and the Korean Film Industry: The National and Transnational Cinema Intersection, was completed at Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea (2017). He is the author of several articles including “Parasite Forges New Paradigm on Transnational and National Cinema Intersection” (2020), “Inter-Korean Relations Remain Precarious: The Spy Gone North, Illang: The Wolf Brigade, Swing Kids and Take Point – trends in Korean Cinema in 2018” (2019), in Contemporary Cinema Studies, Contemporary Cinema Research Institute. He has regularly written film criticism in The Korea Times and Screen International and is currently featured on KBS World Radio as a film critic.

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Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution | A Curator’s Perspective

Posted on by Yurim Oh

Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution is a compelling exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art about the history and transformative legacy of Korean fashion, presenting garments ranging from excavated 17th-century aristocratic garments to contemporary Korean couture by leading and emerging designers, including André Kim (1935–2010); Lie Sang Bong (b. 1954); Lee Chung Chung (b. 1978), for LIE; Lee Jean Youn (b. 1978); and Shin Kyu Yong (b. 1988) and Park Ji Sun (b. 1988), for Blindness.

Through juxtaposing historical and contemporary ensembles, Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution recounts the definition of “couture” from an inclusive perspective, amplifying how tradition has empowered contemporary Korean fashion designers to invent a new artistic language.
Photos Courtesy of Lie Sangbong 

Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution is a compelling exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art about the history and transformative legacy of Korean fashion, presenting garments ranging from excavated 17th-century aristocratic garments to contemporary Korean couture by leading and emerging designers, including André Kim (1935–2010); Lie Sang Bong (b. 1954); Lee Chung Chung (b. 1978), for LIE; Lee Jean Youn (b. 1978); and Shin Kyu Yong (b. 1988) and Park Ji Sun (b. 1988), for Blindness.

Through juxtaposing historical and contemporary ensembles, Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution recounts the definition of “couture” from an inclusive perspective, amplifying how tradition has empowered contemporary Korean fashion designers to invent a new artistic language.

Join us for a conversation with Darnell-Jamal Lisby, who co-curated the exhibition with Sooa Im McCormick.

 

Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution | A Curator’s Perspective

Thursday, September 5, 2024 | 6:30 PM (EDT)


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

 

Join our membership program here!

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About the Speaker:

 

Darnell-Jamal Lisby is Assistant Curator of Fashion at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where he develops projects rooted in fashion studies that connect with the institution’s comprehensive art collection. As a fashion historian, Lisby has a thorough understanding of the global history of fashion dating back to the 1300s. Notably, he has sought opportunities throughout his career to raise awareness around the intersection of Blackness and fashion studies from the 1800s to the present. Thus far at the CMA, he’s helped organize the museum’s iteration of The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion and curated the exhibitions Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession and Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution.

Lisby holds degrees from the Fashion Institute of Technology, including an MA in fashion and textiles studies: history, theory, and museum practice and a BS in art history and museum professions. Before coming to Cleveland, he worked at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, as the sole fashion historian on the curatorial team for the Willi Smith: Street Couture exhibition and as an education coordinator for advanced audiences organizing programming, including the museum’s first virtual symposium, “Fashion, Culture, Futures: African American Ingenuity, Activism, and Storytelling.” Before Cooper Hewitt, Lisby worked at an array of institutions in New York City, including the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

He also taught in the Fashion Institute of Technology master’s program in fashion design, fortifying emerging designers with the historical knowledge they require to pursue fruitful careers. He has published extensively in academic and mainstream platforms, including the Fashion and Race Database, Cultured Magazine, The Fashion Studies Journal, and Teen Vogue.

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Majestic Elegance: Art, Crafts, and Techniques by Sunglim Kim Hallyu! The Korean Wave – The Curatorial Roundtable Dyadic | A Duo Exhibition – Annette Hur & Hayoon Jay Lee Hanbok: The Celebration

Armistice Day Salute 2024

Posted on by Yurim Oh

Join us at The Korea Society to honor Veterans who served in The Korean War. This ceremony marks the 71st Anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953. This program will provide perspectives on the experience of a front-line soldier as told by a Korean War veteran, South Korea’s wartime economy and financial situation, South Korean President Syngman Rhee’s role in the Armistice and Alliance, and the state of the US-ROK Alliance today. The ceremony will feature remarks from president and CEO of The Korea Society Thomas J. Byrne, Republic of Korea New York Consul General Euy Whan Kim, President of the New York Department of the Korean War Veterans Association Salvatore Scarlato, Instructor of Economics in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY Major Rachel Kim, and Associate Director, Center for East Asian Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison Dr. David Fields.

This program is presented in collaboration between The Korea Society and The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in New York.

***Refreshments will be served.***

 

Korean War Armistice Day Salute 2024

Saturday, July 27, 2024

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

 

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Speakers:

 

Thomas J. Byrne joined The Korea Society as its President in August of 2015. He comes to the Society from Moody’s Investor Services, where he was Senior Vice President, Regional Manager, Spokesperson, and Director of Analysis for the Sovereign Risk Group in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions working in Moody’s Singapore office. Before moving to Moody’s in 1996, he was the Senior Economist of the Asia Department at the Institute of International Finance in Washington DC. Tom has an MA degree in International Relations with an emphasis on economics from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a BS degree in Biology from State University of New York at Stony Brook. Before his graduate work, he served in South Korea for three years as a US Peace Corps volunteer. President Byrne teaches as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York City and at Georgetown University’s Graduate School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. As president, he has written opinion articles which were published in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg View, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, The National Interest, and Reuters Breakingviews.
 
 

Dr. David Fields earned his PhD in history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, specializing in US-Korean relations. He is the author of Foreign Friends: Syngman Rhee, American Exceptionalism, and the Division of Korea and the editor of The Diary of Syngman Rhee, 1904–34, 1944,  published by the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History. Since 2015, he has been the book review editor of the Journal of American-East Asian Relations. He has been published in the Washington Post, North Korea Review, Journal of American-East Asian Relations, SinoNK.com, Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society-Korea Branch, and in the Working Papers Series of the Cold War International History Project. His research and analysis has been featured on National Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Radio, C-SPAN, and CNN.
 
 

Consul General Euy Whan Kim assumed his role as the Consul General of the Republic of Korea in New York on December 23, 2022. As an accomplished author of six books and a global expert in public affairs and policy, he brings more than three decades of diverse experience in public service to his current position. Before becoming Consul General, Mr. Kim held various positions within the Korean government. He served as the Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) from July 2019 to December 2020. This appointment followed his secondment to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a Senior Anti-Corruption Advisor in October 2017. Beginning in March 2011, he took on multiple Director-General roles within the ACRC, leading the Bureaus of Anti-Corruption, Administrative Appeal, and Ombudsman. In 2008, Mr. Kim served as Deputy Secretary to the President for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Economic Affairs and Public Relations Planning. From 2002, he held various positions at the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption (KICAC), including Chief Director and Director of several divisions. Before focusing on anti-corruption, he worked for the Korea Fair Trade Commission, the country’s antitrust watchdog. Mr. Kim’s career began in 1991 at the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs after passing the 34th High Civil Service Examination in 1990. Mr. Kim is married with one daughter. He earned a B.A. in Sociology from Korea University and an M.A. in Public Policy and Management from the Ohio State University.
 
 

Major Rachel Kim is an Instructor of Economics in the Department of Social Sciences. Her research focuses on economic growth and development, economic and financial statecraft, industrial policy and counter-threat finance. She graduated from West Point in 2013 with a B.S. in Economics and track in Systems Engineering and commissioned into the Finance Corps. She served as a Disbursing Officer in Vicenza, Italy from where she deployed to Romania and Kosovo to field e-commerce capabilities and Treasury backed-contingent accounts with regional banks in the Balkans theater. She then served as the Deputy Comptroller for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and then Comptroller for the Special Operations Aviation Training Battalion at Fort Campbell, KY. She most recently completed 18 months of command at Camp Casey, South Korea upon which she returned home to NYC to pursue her Master’s in Public Administration at Columbia University, where she concentrated in International Finance and Economic Policy with a specialization in Data Analytics and Quantitative Analysis. CPT Kim maintains professional certifications in Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Defense Financial Manager with Acquisitions specialty (CDFM-A), Lean Six Sigma (GB), and SAP-ERP Business Founding and Integration. She is an active volunteer for the West Point Society of New York and the West Point Chapter of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA).  
 
 

Salvatore Scarlato is Korean War Veterans area commander. He joined the Korean War Veterans Central Long Island Chapter in September 1989. He began as a Member then was voted as a Director, Event Chairman, 1st Vice President and, today is the President. He has been the President of this Chapter and the Korean War Veterans Association Department of New York from 2009 to present time. Born in Brooklyn, New York on January 14, 1933, Salvatore Scarlato was raised in Bedford Stuyvesant, Williamsburg in Brooklyn. His parents, Damiano and Carmela Scarlato, were born in the United States in 1905. He attended public school 157 first, then Boys High School in Brooklyn, NY. On October 15, 1951, at the age of 18 years old, Salvatore Scarlato joined the United States Marine Corps. He arrived in Inchon Harbor (Korea west coast) on April 1952 and proceeded to Ascom City where he was assigned as a Browning Automatic Rifle (B.A.R.) man to Baker Company 1st Shore Party Battalion, 1st Marine Division attached to Kimpo Provisional Regiment (K.P.R.) with the 7 Marine Regiment above the Kimpo Peninsula on the main line of Resistance (M.L.R.) This is called the Jamestown Line. He was combat wounded and spent five months in Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital in SC and received an Honorable Medical Discharge from his military service. Salvatore Scarlato is the recipient of the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Marine Corps President Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation with one Bronze Star, Navy Reserve Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with three Bronze Stars, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation with one Bronze Star, United Nations Medal, the Korean War Service Medal and the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross, New York State Conspicuous Service Star. In 1990, he met his first American South Korean, John Ha, who is his 1st Vice President and best friend. In civilian life, Salvatore was an electro-mechanical designer and worked for various electronic and aircraft companies doing military and commercial designing of electronic equipment, black boxes for aircrafts and ground support equipment. Salvatore Scarlato married his beautiful, lovely wife, Teresa on June 1, 1957. He has two beautiful children, Karen and Thomas and three wonderful grandsons, Nicholas, Steven, and Matthew, and son-in-law, Wayne.  

Minsoo Kang: The Melancholy of Untold History with Ed Lin

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“With his quietly magical debut, Kang delivers a book that only a history professor such as himself could write. The novel switches between a profoundly personal story of loss and a grand, mythic epic, poking at the varied ethics and aims of historicism as it goes.”— Bustle

A beautifully crafted, enriching saga inspired by East Asian mythology, The Melancholy of Untold History is Minsoo Kang’s debut novel, steeped in history and lyrically exciting, interweaving four complex yet entertaining stories as they shape and create a nation’s literary narrative through the themes of love and grief.

Famous for his dispelling of the national myth, a history professor understands the power of narrative. He has inspired another young professor to search for her own truths, while trying to understand the way fiction creates fact and how sometimes the past can only be understood by filling in holes with a new narrative. Which is exactly what he needs when his wife passes away to parse meaning out of a world that no longer makes sense.

Together the protégé and the Historian find comfort in each other. Yet they know their time together is fleeting, as time usually is. Only the gods have an abundance of time, and yet—the two discover—even that might not be so clear cut. Part of their homeland’s myth tells of four gods who squabbled and argued and destroyed and rebuilt time and again. Or did they?

Spanning 3,000 years and multiple voices—with tales within tales woven expertly together—The Melancholy of Untold History reveals people who seek to confront the hardships of life through storytelling. Mixing the East Asian mythos with a postmodern approach to standard sci-fi/fantasy narrative tropes, Minsoo Kang has created a challenging, beautiful, sad, humorous, and ultimately unforgettable novel of love, grief, and myth-making.

Minsoo Kang discusses his debut novel with Ed Lin.

During the event, The Melancholy of Untold History will be available for purchase.

 

Minsoo Kang: The Melancholy of Untold History with Ed Lin

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 | 6:30 PM (EDT)


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

 

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About the Speaker:

Minsoo Kang is a historian, fiction writer, and translator, currently a professor of history at the University of Missouri – Saint Louis.  He is author of the history book Sublime Dreams of Living Machines: The Automaton in the European Imagination, the short story collection Of Tales and Enigmas, and the Penguin Classics translation of the Joseon dynasty novel The Story of Hong Gildong.  The Melancholy of Untold History is his debut novel.

 

About the Moderator:

Ed Lin, a native New Yorker of Taiwanese and Chinese descent, is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards. His books include his first novel Waylaid, and a trilogy of mysteries set in Manhattan’s Chinatown in 1976. His current mystery series is set in Taipei, and the latest of which, Death Doesn’t Forget, was published by Soho Crime in 2022. His YA debut, David Tung Can’t Have a Girlfriend Until He Gets Into an Ivy League College, was published by Kaya Press in 2020. Lin lives in Brooklyn with his wife, actress Cindy Cheung, and son.

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Hyeseung Song: Docile with Emma Eun-joo Choi

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Author Photo: Jack Sorokin

“Docile is the rarest of things: a scorchingly honest, beautiful, hugely evocative memoir that’s also a proper pageturner: I read it breathlessly in a single sitting, transported and deeply moved. It’s at one and the same time the story of a life and a meditation on identity, family, trauma, illness, and the nature of love, art, and success. It’s wonderful.” — Helen Macdonald, New York Times bestselling author of H is for Hawk

A daughter of Korean immigrants, Hyeseung Song spends her earliest years in the cane fields of Texas where her loyalties are divided between a restless father in search of Big Money, and a beautiful yet domineering mother whose resentments about her own life compromises her relationship with her daughter. With her parents at constant odds, Song learns more words in Korean for hatred than for love. When the family’s fake Gucci business lands them in bankruptcy, Song moves to a new elementary school. On her first day, a girl asks the teacher: “Can she speak English?”

Neither rich nor white, Song does what is necessary to be visible: she internalizes the model minority myth as well as her beloved mother’s dreams to see her on a secure path. Song meets these expectations by attending the best Ivy League universities in the country. But when she wavers, in search of an artistic life on her own terms, her mother warns, “Happiness is what unexceptional people tell themselves when they don’t have the talent and drive to go after real success.” Years of self-erasure take a toll and Song experiences recurring episodes of depression and mania.

So begins her sweeping journey to heal herself by losing everything. In her extraordinary debut memoir Docile: Memoirs of a Not-So-Perfect Asian Girl, Song expertly weaves together the beauty and complexity of her experience. It is an immigrant story, but also a mother-daughter story, a mental health story, and ultimately a redemption story. Poetic and unflinching, Docile is a lesson in the power of love and legacy to shape us and finding the bravery to be our authentic selves in spite of the expectations we carry.

In a conversation with Emma Eun-joo Choi, Song discusses her memoir.

Docile: Memoirs of a Not-So-Perfect Asian Girl will be available for purchase.

 

Hyeseung Song: Docile with Emma Eun-joo Choi

Thursday, July 18, 2024 6:30 PM (EDT)


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

 

Join our membership program here!

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About the Speaker:

Hyeseung Song is a first-generation Korean American writer and painter. She lives in Brooklyn and upstate New York.

 

About the Moderator:
 

Emma Eun-joo Choi is a writer, comic, and “journalist.” She is a producer, writer, social media head, and New York City correspondent at NPR’s flagship trivia/comedy/news show Wait… Wait… Don’t Tell Me! From 2022 to 2023, she was the host of its spinoff podcast Everyone & Their Mom, where she interviewed everybody from celebrities to asparagus psychics to her own mother, and regularly records segmented out in the field. She is the youngest ever NPR program host. Equal parts comedian and fiction writer, her short stories have appeared both online and in print and her plays have been produced professionally at DC Fringe. Her fiction falls between the genres of horror and magical realism and is often deeply sad. She is currently working on a novel about a haunted house. 

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Writing Short Stories with Gina Chung and Yun Ko-eun Author Talks: Miye Lee June Hur: A Crane Among Wolves with Ellen Oh Minsoo Kang: The Melancholy of Untold History with Ed Lin

Author Talks: Miye Lee

Posted on by Yurim Oh

* Indies Introduce Pick for Summer 2024

“This delightful story transcends…..A comforting story of dreams, lives, and the ways people process all that reality offers them.”—Kirkus Review

What if there was a store that sold dreams? Which would you buy? And who might you become when you wake up? A captivating story that will leave a lingering magical feeling in readers’ minds, Miye Lee‘s The Dallergut Dream Department Store is the first book in a bestselling duology for anyone exhausted from the reality of their daily life.

In a mysterious town hidden in our collective subconscious there’s a department store that sells dreams. Day and night, visitors both human and animal shuffle in to purchase their latest adventure. Each floor specializes in a specific type of dream: childhood memories, food dreams, ice skating, dreams of stardom. Flying dreams are almost always sold out. Some seek dreams of loved ones who have died.

For Penny, an enthusiastic new hire, working at Dallergut is the opportunity of a lifetime. As she uncovers the workings of this whimsical world, she bonds with a cast of unforgettable characters. 

Miye Lee discusses her debut novel, which has been translated into English by Sandy Joosun Lee.

 

Author Talks: Miye Lee

Tuesday, July 9, 2024


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

 

Join our membership program here!

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About the Speaker:

Miye Lee was born in Busan in 1990. After graduating from the Busan National University School of Materials Science and Engineering, she worked as a semiconductor engineer at Samsung Electronics. Her debut novel The Dallergut Dream Department Store has sold over one million copies in Korea and was named the 2020 Book of the Year by numerous bookstores and websites, including Yes24, Interpark, Aladdin, and Youngpoong Books.

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Writing Short Stories with Gina Chung and Yun Ko-eun Author Talks: Park Seolyeon Author Talks: Hwang Bo-reum Author Talks: Bora Chung & Anton Hur