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.

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.