Category: Geopolitical Affairs

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.

Jonathan Corrado is Director of Policy for The Korea Society. He produces programming and conducts research on a range of security, diplomacy, and socioeconomic issues impacting the U.S.-Korea Alliance, the Korean Peninsula, and Northeast Asia. Beginning in Fall 2023, Jonathan will teach a class at SUNY Stony Brook University titled, “North Korea: State, Society, Diplomacy, and Security.” He was previously a non-resident James A. Kelly Fellow at Pacific Forum, an Emerging Leader at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, and a contributor to NK Pro. He has published peer-reviewed articles in the International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, the Journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, and Asian Politics & Policy. He has also published analysis in outlets such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and War on the Rocks. Jonathan was previously a translator for Daily NK (Korean to English), an FCPA due diligence investigator for Steele Compliance Solutions, a graduate fellow for McLarty Associates, and a volunteer analyst for the Congressional Research Service. Jonathan received an MA from Georgetown University’s Asian Studies Program in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and a BA in anthropology and philosophy from the University of Maryland College Park.

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 Ohio State University.

Colonel Sean Morrow serves in the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. His research interests include national security strategy, alliances, and terrorism.  As an infantry officer for 20 years, Sean has served in a variety of command and staff positions in the United States, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Republic of Korea. After serving as commander of the United Nations Command Security Battalion-Joint Security Area in Korea’s DMZ, Morrow wrote a retrospective on “the world’s loneliest outpost” for The Washington Quarterly. He is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at The University of Chicago. He also received his M.A. in Political Science at The University of Chicago, an M.A. in Literature and Irish Studies at Boston College, and a B.S. in  Management from the United States Military Academy.  

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.

Major Jessica Taylor, US Air Force Reserve, is a nonresident fellow in the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. She is currently pursuing her PhD in international relations with a focus on the Indo-Pacific as a part of the Security Studies program at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. In addition, Taylor is a logistics readiness officer in the US Air Force Reserve. Taylor has served in the US Department of Defense in both military and civil service capacities for nearly twenty years. She most recently served in South Korea from 2019 to 2021 as an international relations strategist where she provided geopolitical analysis and advice to the headquarters command staffs of United Nations Command, ROK/US Combined Forces Command, and US Forces Korea. In addition to experience in East Asia, Taylor has had assignments in South Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Taylor holds a BA in biology from Baylor University and a MS in foreign service from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service.