THE KOREA SOCIETY

Jack Foley enlisted in the United States Marine Corps following his graduation from high school in March 1951 at the age of 17. Jack completed recruit training at Parris Island before being transferred to Camp Pendleton in California for advanced infantry instruction. The training included rigorous Mountain Warfare exercises in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in preparation for deployment to Korea. Upon his return home in late November 1952, he was promoted to the rank of Marine Sergeant in the USMC and assigned to the 2nd Marine Division at Camp LeJeune, NC serving with the Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment. In May 1953, Jack was reassigned to Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA where he served as a Weapons instructor at the Officer Candidate School. Following this assignment, he returned to Camp LeJeune where he completed his service and was honorably discharged.

After Jack's honorable discharge from active duty in 1955, he was accepted into the New York City Police Department where he began his career in law enforcement. Concurrently, he rejoined the Marine Corps as a reservist, ultimately serving a total of 25 years and retiring with the rank of Master Sergeant. During that time, he participated in specialized training programs including Desert Warfare training in the Mojave Desert, Jungle Warfare School in Panama, and Cold Weather training in Norway. In 1990, Jack continued his commitment to public service by joining the Lee County Sheriff's Office in Fort Myers, Florida. He served proudly as a Deputy Sheriff and later retired with the rank of Police Sergeant.

Dr. Abraham Kim, Ph.D. is the President & CEO of The Korea Society, where he leads the organization's efforts to strengthen ties between the United States and Korea through policy dialogue, business engagement, and cultural exchange. Dr. Kim brings more than 25 years of experience in public policy, national security, and nonprofit leadership, with a career focused on U.S.–Korea relations and Northeast Asia. He has worked closely with senior government officials, business leaders, and international organizations, providing analysis and guidance on geopolitical and economic issues related to the Korean Peninsula. Prior to joining The Korea Society, Dr. Kim served as Executive Director & President of the Council of Korean Americans (CKA), where he expanded the organization's national footprint and strengthened its role in policy engagement and leadership development. He previously served as Executive Director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at the University of Montana and as Interim President and Vice President of the Korea Economic Institute of America, where he supported public diplomacy initiatives and educational programs focused on the U.S.–Korea alliance. Earlier in his career, Dr. Kim worked as a policy and risk analyst at Eurasia Group, CSIS, and SAIC, focusing on political risk, crisis simulations, and regional security issues in Northeast Asia. He holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Political Science from Columbia University, an M.A. from Harvard University, and a B.A. from Boston University.

Brigadier General (Ret.) Chris Stockel currently serves as the Korea Defense Veterans Association New York City Metro Chapter president. He is also the vice president of the Civil Affairs Association, senior U.S. civil military operations (CMO) advisor to the Korea Battle Simulation Center (KBSC). He commanded infantry, special forces, and civil affairs units, culminating at the one-star level as commanding general (CG) of the 351st Civil Affairs Command (CACOM) in Mountain View, CA and as the acting Combined Forces Command (CFC) C9 (civil affairs), Korea. As CG of the 351st, he was responsible for nearly all civil affairs operations in the INDO-PACIFIC. Previous to this, he was deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) and chief of staff (COS) of the 352nd CACOM. Before this, he was the commander of the civil military operations center (CMOC) and deputy COS strategic effects Operational Command Post (OCP) Third Army/ARCENT, Kuwait. He deployed twice to Iraq – once as a CA officer and later as the PAO for CJSOTF-AP. Other assignments included interagency duty with State counter-terrorism at Main State in the CT bureau, formerly S/CT, a joint assignment with USSOCOM, and Special Operations USEUCOM (SOCEUR). His training assignments, tours, and deployment postings included numerous European, Asian, Central American, Caribbean, East African, and Middle Eastern countries (including Egypt, Iraq, UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Lebanon, and Kuwait). He spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations focused on China, at AUSA LANPAC in Hawaii on HADR, and testified about Iraq before Congress to the House committee on State and Foreign Operations. Stockel earned a BA in Mathematics/Computer Science with a minor in German from Trenton State College including a year abroad at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany and a Master's Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. He is a life member of the Council of Foreign Relations. While in uniform he held DoD language ratings in German, Arabic, and Spanish. He is ranger and special forces qualified. His numerous awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, German Parachute Badge, Latvian Special Forces Parachute Badge, Indonesian Parachute Badge, and Cote d'Ivoire Parachute Badge.