Korea Day - Pittsburgh

Details: Wednesday, March 16 , 2011 | 12:00 PM

Event Link:
Podcast URL: Transcript of Luncheon Discussion From Alliance to Partnership: Free Trade and Opportunities in U.S.-Korea Relations The Fairmount Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania March 16, 2011 Speakers His Excellency Han Duk-soo Ambassador of The Republic of Korea Ambassador Thomas Hubbard Chairman, The Korea Society Senior Director, McLarty Associates DAVID MURDOCH: I want to tell you I've been having the most enjoyable lunch. I have on my left a newcomer in Pittsburgh, In-Soo Cho, who is the president and chief executive officer of StarKist. I'd like you all to give him a warm Pittsburgh welcome. [Applause] So, we do have an outpost for The Korea Society. I also had the wonderful opportunity at lunch to learn how to say "bon appétit." And for those of you who want to develop your language skills (and with apologies to the Koreans present) "Tŭseyo. Enjoy. Come eat." This is what I should have said before. I apologize for not having done that and then, in addition, continuing to eat. I didn't know how to say that. Perhaps Tŭseyo more? I also learned how to say "thank you" which I hope all the non-Koreans in the room will use with their Korean guests before they leave or with our new Korean host, In-Soo, and our speakers. Apparently, there's two ways to do it. Komapsŭmnida . Did I do okay? [Applause] And for the insiders (and you want to feel that you know Korean better) it's Kamsahamnida. I hope the folks from the Nationality Room at Pitt, who are with us today, will let me come out and use the Korean Room at the University. It's my great pleasure to introduce our guests who will be coming up to the podium momentarily. Ambassador Han Duk-soo is the Ambassador of Korea to the United States of America. He has had a long career of service to his country. Prior to taking up his position as ambassador of Korea in March of 2009, he served as the prime minister of South Korea from 2007 to 2009 and the deputy prime minister from 2005 until 2007. Ladies and gentlemen, it is very unusual for a senior member of the diplomatic corps to not only become an ambassador but also a head of government. This is very special. Ambassador Han has also served as minister of finance and the economy in Korea. He was senior secretary to the president for economic affairs, so he knows about economic development. He was the ambassador to the Korean Permanent Delegation to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. Ambassador Han has blessed and graced our city of Pittsburgh once before with his presence during the G20 Summit. We are delighted that he has come back to join us again today. Ambassador Thomas Hubbard is currently serving as the senior director of Asia for an organization called McLarty Associates in Washington, D.C., where he specializes in Asian affairs. From 2001 to 2004, Ambassador Hubbard was the U.S. Ambassador to Korea. Ambassador Hubbard has been a career Foreign Service Officer with the United States State Department for nearly forty years, during which time he has served, in addition to being the Ambassador to Korea, as ambassador to the Philippines. He served seven years in Japan and was the deputy chief of mission and acting ambassador in Malaysia. Ambassador Hubbard held key Washington postings including the Philippines desk officer, country director for Japan, and the principal deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Ambassador Hubbard was a principal negotiator of the 1994 Agreed Framework aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program, and headed the first senior level U.S. government delegation in North Korea. He's currently serving as chairman of the board of The Korea Society. Gentlemen, please join us up here. [Applause] THOMAS HUBBARD: Thank you very much. I'd like to thank David, Steve Sokol, and all of you associated with the World Affairs Council for giving The Korea Society the opportunity to do this event here today. I am particularly pleased to be here with my good friend and colleague Ambassador Han Duk-soo. You may notice during the course of this discussion that this is not the first time we've appeared together talking about Korea. One of the reasons you'll notice that is I will spend most of my time simply agreeing with my colleague, because he is so articulate in talking about this subject. We do want to try to be informal. I'll probably start by throwing a few softball questions at the ambassador and perhaps add some of my own comments. We will open up the floor for questions and comments as quickly as possible. Let me start by saying that this is a wonderful time to be an American working on Korean affairs. I don't think there's ever been a time where the relationship between our two countries has been closer. Events around the world have brought us together. We've long been allies. We've had a close military relationship. We've worked together to deter any attack from North Korea. We still maintain upwards of 25,000 U.S. military personnel in Korea. We've also worked closely together in trying to effect change on the Korean Peninsula, trying to engage in productive negotiations to secure an end to North Korea's nuclear programs, and bring about a lowering of tension on the Korean peninsula. I think our cooperation today is better than ever before, and particularly important because of the provocations that you've all read about with the North Korean attack on a South Korean naval vessel and the attack on South Korean territory. We have a long way to go with that problem. We're also working in a number of other ways to expand the U.S.-Korea relationship, perhaps most importantly by negotiating the Free Trade Agreement. It now seems ready to be put before Congress for approval after four years of dormancy. We're very excited about that prospect and I know Ambassador Han will want to talk about that. We're also extending our ties around the world. We're promoting democracy in places like the Middle East and dealing with some of the hot spots like Iraq and Afghanistan where Korea has been a partner. I don't know of any other time when Korea has been such an important part of the American agenda, including here at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh which led to the G20 meeting later in Seoul. It's a wonderful time to talk about this. I would like to ask Ambassador Han to make some opening remarks. Would you like to tell everyone here today why the U.S.-Korea relationship is so important these days? HAN DUK-SOO: Thank you, Ambassador Hubbard. I will try to be brief so we will have plenty of time for questions at the end of the discussion. There are two things I'd like to mention. I would like to offer our thanks for the great support by the United States, in particular the invaluable sacrifices made by the U.S. veterans of the Korean War. Korea will hopefully emerge as a fully democratized, prosperous country, and much of this transition is due to the help and support by the United States during the last sixty years. Korea would like to work hand-in-hand with the United States on both regional and global issues. Korea is assisting the U.S. in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Haiti. We will continue with this cooperative relationship with the United States on security issues, not only on the Korean peninsula but on regional and global issues. The second point is the development of Korea's $1 trillion economy which is now the world's 15th largest. The per capita GDP sixty years ago was less than $100. Today it is over $20,000. There is even more room, now, for economic cooperation between the United States and Korea. In terms of trade, for the first six months of last year (including trade of manufactured goods and services) Korea's deficit was only $400 million compared to $55 billion in two-way trade between the United States and Korea. Since 2006, Korean investors have invested more in the United States than U.S. private investors have invested in Korea. StarKist is one example of Korea's economic movement forward. These kinds of trends will continue and hopefully will become even stronger. There is great potential for even more cooperation between U.S. and Korean businesses as our relationship deepens. The Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement will be the fundamental underlying framework for supporting a new era of business alliances and cooperation between U.S. and Korean businesses. We are very eager to see that agreement implemented. Within the first six months of this year, I am optimistic that Congress will act on the Free Trade Agreement. That agreement will be a historic one, and it will be a real stimulus for increasing the cooperative relationship between U.S. and Korean businesses while helping us to remain competitive in the global arena. THOMAS HUBBARD: Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador. It's very obvious to me why the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement is good for America. The United States market has typically been very open to trade with the world, and with Korea in particular. Traditionally, Korea's markets have been less open to the world, but in recent years you've gone through a dramatic process of moving towards an open market. It has been estimated that the United States will gain about $11 billion in exports to Korea from passage of this agreement. This will create 75,000 new jobs. It seems to be just what America needs at a time when employment is such a major problem. It will be a real boon to U.S. exporters. What do you see as the principal advantages of the Free Trade Agreement for Korea? HAN DUK-SOO: The $11 billion increase in exports by the United States into Korea is clearly one indicator of the importance of this agreement. There were two very critical occasions for Korea to transform its economy from a less open economy into a very open economy in the global arena. The first opportunity came in the late 1990s during the Asian financial crisis. The IMF was very actively engaged in that transformation, and it was very painful medicine for Koreans at that time. I believe the reforms we implemented during that period alone is equivalent to the combination of reforms we have executed during the last forty years. The Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement will be another springboard for Korea to transform itself and take another step towards a more global, open, prosperous economy. I have given my business card to some guests attending here today. On the back of my business card is a website address where you can learn all about the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, including an explanation of all the myths and false arguments. I hope you will take some time to study that. As you look through the 1,000 pages of documents (if you actually have the time) you will see that all the provisions address U.S. business concerns. The agreement will help U.S. automakers and pharmaceutical companies make inroads into the Korean market. Intellectual property rights for U.S. entertainment industries have been greatly strengthened. What Korea would like to get from this agreement is clear. In the short term, Korea's ability to increase exports into the United States will not be significant compared to what U.S. businesses will be able to do in their trade with Korea. What Korea will get from the Free Trade Agreement will be somewhat painful in the short term, but in the medium and long term, Korea will benefit from this package of reforms as we did in the late 1990s during the Asian crisis. The 1,000 page document has drastically removed the protective regime on our agricultural products. This sector has always been very sensitive politically. With this agreement, although there is some phasing out, Korea's agricultural sector will be almost completely open. That will be painful for Korean farmers, but will be good for our fifty million consumers. Korea will be enhancing its transparency in the implementation of these policies, including the reduction of the protective regime. In reviewing the 1,000 pages of the Free Trade Agreement, you will find some very drastic reforms in Korean policy. I would like to conclude that for Korea, the short-term benefits may not be great, but in the medium and long terms, with this 1,000 page document, Korea will transform itself into another very open, liberal, and prosperous economy with a more transparent policy, making the process more predictable for American companies wanting to do business with Korea. This is partly what Korea hopes to achieve with the Free Trade Agreement. THOMAS HUBBARD: I often hear Ambassador Han talk about this, and I am always deeply impressed. I think this may be the first time in history that a country has sought a free trade agreement not specifically for export benefit, but as a means of modernizing, opening, and making its own economy more competitive. It's a process we'd like to see a lot of other countries follow, including Japan. They aren't quite at that point. I think this is an indication of the wisdom of Korean leadership throughout the years. I'll often describe Ambassador Han as one of those economic technocrats who brought about the Korean miracle, and he has played a very large role for many years in this. I was ambassador in Korea and Ambassador Han was in a senior government position when the previous president, President No Mu-hyŏn first sought this Free Trade Agreement for precisely the reasons that Ambassador Han has just stated. We are very much looking forward to seeing it put into effect. Let me ask one more question, Ambassador Han. We are hopeful that the American Congress will move forward quickly. The votes seem to be there for passing the Korea-U.S. FTA. Politics is politics in Washington, and there is still some political maneuvering going on, but it does seem to have the bipartisan support it needs to be passed in the United States. What about Korea? If it is approved by the U.S. Congress, is the Korean National Assembly likely to approve it? HAN DUK-SOO: I believe so. The process will not be easy, but there is substantial support among the Korean public for this agreement. I think their support comes mainly from our longstanding relationship with the United States. The United States is one of the most important allies for Korea, and many in the Korean general public know that progress towards a fully democratized and prosperous country is because of our relationship with the United States. This makes the Free Trade Agreement, and the even more intimate economic relationship with the United States that results, more acceptable to the Korean people. Survey results indicate clearly that although the agreement may be painful, the Free Trade Agreement with the United States is something the majority of the Korean public wants. That public opinion has put our National Assembly (which is the Korean equivalent to the United States Congress) on notice, and I believe the National Assembly will react accordingly. Of course, we are using every means of persuasion we have to ensure the National Assembly takes the appropriate action. The ruling party in Korea now (which adopts the unicameral system) has a majority of 172 out of 299 total members, and 151 members of the National Assembly sent a letter to the U.S. Congress asking them to act soon on this agreement. So, we believe that the U.S. Congress will move in this direction. The Korean National Assembly plans to act first on the Korea-E.U. trade agreement which will be implemented on July 1. Hopefully we can begin to implement the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement by the first of January of next year. THOMAS HUBBARD: Well, thank you. I failed to mention earlier that Korea has been active in pursuing free trade agreements, not only with the U.S., but with a lot of other countries around the world. Indeed, the Korea-E.U. Free Trade Agreement will come into effect likely in the second half of this year. American companies are going to be at a very significant disadvantage, vis-à-vis our E.U. counterparts in this agreement, if we don't move on this agreement very quickly. Korea has also been talking to Japan and China. Korea has a free trade agreement with India and has various free trade agreements in the Asian region. We need to get on the boat before opportunities sail away from us. This agreement is important not only to the United States in business terms, but also in strategic terms. It will deepen and broaden a very important alliance relationship with Korea. It also will represent a strong, concrete signal of our interest in remaining a major presence in Asia. At this time China's role is growing, and a number of countries are questioning the willingness of the U.S. to remain engaged in free trade with Asia. Passing the Korea FTA will have a spillover effect, and will be a strong indication of our commitment to Asia and a very reassuring step for countries around the region. Mr. Ambassador, before we open for questions, let me throw you a hardball this time. We know this group is principally interested in business, but you can't really separate North Korea from the economic interests. I wonder if you could give your assessment of where things stand now with North Korea and the prospects for moving forward. HAN DUK-SOO: The issue with North Korea is clear for South Korea, the United States and the global community. North Korea can become engaged globally by giving up their nuclear ambitions, which is a clear violation of international obligations, rules, and treaties. By giving up their nuclear ambitions, North Korea can emerge as a country eligible for a lot of cooperation and help from the outside world. This includes, of course, South Korea which will be a strong supporter and provider of assistance to North Korea. Engaging North Korea in the global community is a critical issue for South Korea and other major players. It will guarantee stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but in Northeast Asia and the global community, because North Korea is one of the most troublesome countries in terms of security aspects. We have three approaches for dealing with North Korea. North Korea is inclined to take provocative steps, as we saw last year when they engaged in serious dialogue at the conference table. Militarily, the United States and Korea should be guaranteed a formal level of deterrence for the prevention of any future provocations by North Korea. The second approach will be determined by how the international community responds to any violation of international rules and obligations by North Korea concerning non-proliferation. There are sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council. Definitely we will enforce the Security Council imposed sanctions of North Korea on noncompliance with international rules and obligations. The third approach for dealing with North Korea is dialogue. We are committed to attaining the denuclearization of North Korea through peaceful means rather than engaging in war with a very heavily armed country. We hope to persuade North Korea to give up their nuclear ambitions through incentives, disincentives, and negotiations. This will be very difficult to accomplish, but it is a very important channel for us to achieve denuclearization through peaceful means. The first two I think are pretty much on track. We have done enough, I think, with deterrence and sanctions. I think we are a little behind with the dialogue approach. We hope to reengage in dialogue with North Korea along with the close cooperation of the United States, Japan, Russia, and China. This is not an easy process. South Korea and the United States do not wish to engage in dialogue simply for dialogue's sake, or dialogue from a "peace offensive" basis. We are looking for sincere dialogue which will contribute to the North Korean decision to give up nuclear weapons. That's where we are now. We are trying to engage North Korea in the process of dialogue. We are somewhat reticent about the unconditional restoration of dialogue asked for by North Korea and China, because we have had this same experience several times in the past, and always ended up disappointed. We need to believe that the next time we have dialogue with North Korea, the dialogue will bear some results. THOMAS HUBBARD: Thank you very much. This is one of those moments when I can say I agree with everything the ambassador said. The U.S. stands very close by our South Korean ally in trying to resolve the issues in North Korea. We agree that the situation calls for a combination of deterrence, pressure, and meaningful dialogue, and we do hope we will find a basis for reestablishing a dialogue with the North Koreans that will promise meaningful results, particularly in terms of their denuclearization. I think we can stop here and ask the audience for questions and comments. Yes, sir? GABE PELLATHY: Gabe Pellathy with U.S. Steel. Mr. Ambassador, thank you very much. Western Pennsylvania, and Pittsburgh in particular, is the home to leading manufacturers, world class health care, and the largest technology council. Where do you see areas of cooperation between Korea and an area like Western Pennsylvania moving forward? HAN DUK-SOO: There are many, and I would like to ask all of you here to push and persuade Pennsylvania's members of Congress and senators to support the Free Trade Agreement. The overall support on trade from congressional members of Pennsylvania is not as strong as other states, such as California. We need your support in the next several months. It's clear that there will be a lot of benefits for this area from the Free Trade Agreement. I would like to point out a few companies who will greatly benefit from passage of this agreement. The Heinz Company exports $43 million dollars of product a year to Korea. They are subject to a Korean tariff of 8 percent. If this Free Trade Agreement is put into effect, it will be phased out. Indspec Chemical Corporation is exporting to Korea about $30 million of product. They are subject to a 5 percent tariff by Korean authorities. It will be gone right away. Huntsman Advanced Material are exporting quite a small amount now, but I think there will be a potential for them to benefit greatly from this agreement. Akers National Roll Company exports about $1.5 million of product to Korea. They are subject to an 8 percent tariff, and they are employing 250 workers. This 8 percent tariff will be gone right away, so they will most certainly benefit from this. As I mentioned before, there has been great growth in private investment in the United States by Koreans since 2006. They have built automotive assembly plants in Georgia and Alabama (unfortunately not yet in Pennsylvania). Korea has a very strong desire to build large medical complexes which combine medical services delivery, hospitals, universities, pharmaceutical companies, and research labs. This region stands to benefit greatly from partnerships with Korea in building such large medical complexes. Manufactured goods like steel products, along with service industries including financial, will be subject to a lot of benefits from this agreement. Korea is the second largest service market in Asia, after Japan, and these service companies will be treated in as nondiscriminatory a fashion as Korean companies. They can own up to 100 percent of any company. Our companies can come here, to the United States, for investment as well. So, there will be a lot of opportunities for Pennsylvania. I also would like to emphasize some of the strategic benefits. Companies of the United States and Korea will be able to benefit from each other's strengths and weaknesses. It is not necessary to mention that you are the first in innovation, in research, and in high-tech industries. Korea companies excel in middle-level technologies, and we may have some more advantages in production technologies. We also have many excellent engineers willing to work for moderate compensation. These partnerships will certainly generate business that can compete in a very strong way with companies in Japan, China (in a somewhat different sense), and also companies in Europe. If based on these agreements we can foster these strategic alliances among the businesses of the United States and Korea, we can complement our weak points and maximize our strengths. This will make individual businesses of the United States and Korea much stronger than before, which will bring the competitiveness we will all need in the future. THOMAS HUBBARD: Any other questions or comments? FEMALE: Thank you for coming today. I have a question regarding North Korea specifically. What plans does South Korea have in place if North Korea and South Korea were to merge? How would that affect your economy and do you have any contingency plans to cushion the blow? HAN DUK-SOO: First, I'd like to mention that South Korea would like to see a more orderly process of unification. We do not wish to see the collapse of North Korea, but feel obliged to unify with North Korea. That's why we are emphasizing interchange between North and South Korea through dialogue, through economic cooperation, and through the ending of North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The top priority for South Korea is to coexist, for some time, until some of the homogeneity among the people of North and South Korea is restored. It will be a lengthy process, but we hope to see a gradual unification process begin. We know that unification may not always work as planned. Certainly, it may come. That's why we are preparing, in close cooperation with the United States, for any contingencies that may occur: how to deal with the refugees, how to deal with the possibility of continued nuclear weapons, and how to handle diplomacy with other countries. That's what we are preparing ourselves for. The main target of the unification, I should say, will be more gradual processes which will guarantee the restoration of our homogeneity and which, in the end, will lower the cost of reunification. We know that all those things may not play out as we planned, but we are preparing for those contingencies. THOMAS HUBBARD: Other questions or comments? Yes, sir? MALE: Ambassador, thank you so much for coming to Pittsburgh. I was wondering what the Korean thoughts and plans are related to China as a neighbor and as a trading partner. HAN DUK-SOO: We have a very strong economic relationship with China. We normalized our diplomatic relations with China in 1992. Within twenty years of this diplomatic normalized period, our two-way trade is now almost $200 billion, which is almost double the amount of trade between the United States and Korea. Up to the beginning of the 1990s, the U.S. was the largest trading partner of Korea. Now the United States ranks fourth. We hope this Free Trade Agreement will help to restore that kind of close trading relationship with the United States. China is the largest recipient of Korean investments. There are more than 40,000 Korean companies in China. So, our economic relationship with China is very strong, but we realize that China still stands very strongly by North Korea and that's why we must have a continuous, effective, diplomatic dialogue with China. How do we handle this strong economic relationship and less than satisfactory diplomatic and security relationship with China? How to harmonize these two are real challenges for Korea at this time. THOMAS HUBBARD: Other questions? Yes? MALE: Thank you. Just one more follow-up on North Korea. Implicit in the discussion of a potential reunification, I suppose, is the assumption that maybe things are not so good inside North Korea. To the extent you're able to share, are conditions such that it is anticipated that at least in the not-so-distant future that this reunification or at least increased relations will result because things are not going so well in North Korea? HAN DUK-SOO: It is very hard for us to know exactly what's happening in North Korea and how, in relation to that, this unification process will unfold. It's very hard for us to make a prediction. But it's clear that the situation in North Korea is very bad and their economy, actually, has failed. They cannot feed their people. Without assistance, cooperation, and aid from the outside world, it will be very difficult for them to survive. It is clear that their situation is bad, but predicting their future is very difficult. They have lived for many years under these kind of difficult situations. In addition, China is still a very strong supporter and ally of North Korea. They will not allow North Korea to fall into a contingency situation. My prediction is that they can muddle through, but it's clear that their situation is very bad. THOMAS HUBBARD: Do we have another hand up there? MALE: I would like to express our sincere appreciation to The Korea Society. They have made the Korean community here in Pittsburgh so proud to be Korean, as well as American. I have two homes. One is Korea and one is America. We do not have a lot of Korean community members in Pittsburgh; however, every single industry in Pittsburgh from education to medicine to manufacturing to services has a Korean working with them. Mr. Cho of StarKist is taking care of beautification of the Korean War Memorial, and we are so proud of this. We are all committed to helping not only the North Korean economy but also the world economy by participating in this Free Trade Agreement. Ambassador Han mentioned the need to contact every channel that we can to promote this trade agreement. If you have any questions about this, or need our help, please don't hesitate to contact the Korean community. We need to help promote Pennsylvania industry going into Korea and having Korea coming here. Thank you again very much. THOMAS HUBBARD: This is maybe an opportunity for me just to say a couple of words on behalf of The Korea Society. Ambassador Minton has spoken, as others have. We at The Korea Society are dedicated to doing what we can to make Korea better understood and better appreciated throughout the United States. I think we would like, as you suggest, sir, to work with members of the Korean-American community in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, as well as around the country, to try to carry that message. We're devoted not only to policy and discussions of the kind we're having today, but also to cultural exchange and appreciation, and to education. We are offering Korean language training, and this is soon to be online. We are offering curriculum and other educational materials so that a university or high-school professor, who is teaching world history and knows a bit about China and Japan, will also know a lot about Korea and be able to incorporate that into their programs. I think through all of this, we are trying to build a better basis for cooperation between our two countries. We don't like being number four. Mr. Ambassador, we would like to be number one as Korea's trading partner again, and we hope to be able to build the kind of ties and cooperation that will get us back to that level. Let me also make the appeal. Step number one is getting that Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ratified. Please write your congressman. Thank you. [Applause] STEVE SOKOL: I'd like to thank you both for really helping guide us through a collection of very important economic and political issues. I'm Steve Sokol, the president of the World Affairs Council, and it's been a great pleasure to work together with The Korea Society to bring Ambassador Han and Ambassador Hubbard to Pittsburgh as part of this new initiative that The Korea Society has launched of being more active outside of Washington and New York, beginning with Atlanta and now here in Pittsburgh. When we started talking about this idea of today's event, I pointed out that Pittsburgh does not have a terribly large Korean community, compared with some other American cities, but that it has a particularly vibrant community. And as many of you know who are Pittsburghers, there are also some very impressive and very important Korean-Americans who have spent time here in Pittsburgh. And so, as a gesture of thanks to Ambassador Han, I have something which will resonate, I think, with many people here in this room. I'm very pleased to give you a very special jersey. [Applause] Hines Ward, as many people know, is in warmer climes at the moment for spring training, and also because he's dancing. He's not able to be here today, but at least we were able to present you with this small token of our appreciation. Thank you very much for coming. Thank you for being here. Ambassador Hubbard, thank you very much. I also have a small token for you. THOMAS HUBBARD: It's a football? STEVE SOKOL: It's not just any football, and the world is not really flat there, but it's just a little something. THOMAS HUBBARD: Thank you very much. Let me just add here that I had the great pleasure of meeting Hines Ward in Korea when he attended the inauguration of President Lee Myung-bak. You may have met him also, Mr. Ambassador. I stood in line with him. He was wearing a magnificent Korean costume, a hanbok. He looked wonderful and was a great representative of the United States at that event. STEVE SOKOL: I'd like to thank Ambassador Minton, Steve Noerper, and the team from The Korea Society. I would also like to thank the team at the World Affairs Council for helping put on this wonderful day. Thanks to all of you, and thanks to everybody for coming today. This has really been a wonderful partnership. [Applause]
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Vimeo Video:

2011 03 16 korea-day-pittsburgh icon The Korea Society, the nation’s premiere non-profit dedicated to enhanced understanding between the peoples of the United States and Korea, presents its next Korea Day March 16 in Pittsburgh. Following on its national outreach effort in Atlanta, The Korea Society identified Pittsburgh given its emergence as a top-ten U.S. growth city, center for research and foundations, and home to over one hundred billion-dollar-plus corporations.

The Korea Days centerpiece is a luncheon discussion featuring Ambassador Thomas Hubbard, Chairman of The Korea Society, and His Excellency Han Duk-Soo, Korea’s Ambassador to the United States. Both will address From Alliance to Partnership: Free Trade and Opportunities in U.S.-Korea Relations for foundation, university, and corporate executives at The Fairmont Pittsburgh beginning at noon.

The day opens with a visit by Ambassador Mark Minton, President of The Korea Society, to Pittsburgh's Central Catholic High School, where he will speak to faculty and students about the growing relevance of Korea on the international stage. The Society’s educational programs include teacher training, lesson-plan development, and fellowships for teachers and students. Following the school visit, a VIP reception for business and community leaders takes place at The Fairmont.

The Korea Society also will feature 10,000 Threads: Photography of Selected Works by Quilt Master Kim Haeja, which highlight works on exhibit in New York by this living cultural treasure. Kim’s specialty is nubi, the line-stitched quilted clothing of traditional Korea. Sharing in The Korea Society’s Pittsburgh programs, which showcase the best of modern and ancient Korea, is partner, the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh. The effort is made possible through the generous support of Pantech, Korea’s Presidential Council on Nation Branding and the Korea Foundation.

Lead corporate sponsor.

With generous support from:

Korea Foundation

In partnership with:

World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh