The Korea Society

February 19, 2015 - Part of the Legacies in Korea-U.S. Relations and Media Perceptions of Korea Series

Rutherford Poats, former United Press War Correspondent and Bureau Chief, discusses his book, Decision in Korea. Published over sixty years ago—and recently re-released as an ebook—this “reporter’s survey” stands as a vital record of the choices that tested a war-weary United States and the young United Nations.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/decision_in_korea_six_decades_on.html

January 28, 2015 - Makeup artist Seong Hee Park, who created looks for K-Pop’s Wonder Girls and TV star Yunjin Kim, explores how the traditional ideals of Korean beauty in the paintings of Chosŏn-era artist Shin Yun-bok influences today’s Korean female stars.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/arts-culture/contemporary-korea/images_of_korean_female_beauty.html

February 2, 2015 - Author Jang Jin-sung, on his first visit to the U.S., discusses his new book, Dear Leader Poet, Spy, Escapee—A Look Inside North Korea, which describes his life in North Korea as a psychological warfare officer and one of Kim Jong-il’s revered “court poets,” as well as his dramatic escape to China and South Korea. Jang will also read selections from his poetry and share insights into North Korea shaped by his experiences as well as contacts with North Korean exiles and overseas officials. The evening’s discussion will be led by Dr. Su Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst and current senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/arts-culture/literature/jang_jin-sung_poet_spy_escapee.html

January 30, 2015 - Michael Schiffer, Senior Advisor and Counselor to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, offers insights on the new 114th Congress and its effect on Korea policy. A former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia, Schiffer shares his views on the impact of the new Republican majority, the final two years of the Obama White House, and prospects for Asia policy-making.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/korea_and_the_hill.html

December 5, 2014 - Harvard Kennedy School-Belfer Center Senior Fellow Stephen Bosworth reflects on his years of professional and personal commitment to Korea. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Director Graham Allison describes Bosworth as “one of the most influential experts in the world on Korea policy.” Ambassador Bosworth served as Director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, U.S. Ambassador to the ROK, Dean of the illustrious Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/reflections_on_korea_in_conversation_with_ambassador_stephen_bosworth.html

December 3, 2014 - Vice Chairman Chung Chong-Wook and distinguished members Ha Young-Sun and Kim Joo-Hyun of the ROK Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation discuss their mission and early work as well as prospects for U.S. and international support. The group explores the complexities, challenges and ultimate opportunities of the unification process and welcome audience thoughts and feedback during the Committee's inaugural visit to New York City.

For more information, please visit the link below:

http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/rok_presidential_committee_for_unification_planning_briefing.html

November 20, 2014 - Arranged introductions have long been part of Korean culture, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Kang sisters would merge technology and dating to pioneer an innovative but surprisingly simple on-line dating service, Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB). Join us for an evening with the founders as they share, with Wework’s Christina Choi, their experiences starting CMB and using technology, social media, and marketing research in a people business.

For more information, please visit the link below:

http://www.koreasociety.org/special-events/young-professionals/an_evening_with_coffee_meets_bagels.html

November 24, 2014 - The findings of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea (UN COI) outline in horrendous detail the crimes against humanity being committed as a matter of DPRK state policy. To support the momentum behind the UN COI findings and recommendations, the Asan Institute for Policy Studies published a new report titled, Beyond the UN COI Report on Human Rights in the DPRK. The Asan report seeks to augment the COI findings by further examining the human-rights abuses sustained by North Korean laborers, but not included in the COI report. The report details human rights abuses suffered by North Korean overseas workers and laborers in DPRK nuclear facilities. Through independent analysis and interviews with North Korean defectors, the report concludes that these groups are subjected to slavery and forced-labor conditions that violate international law. These conditions are further symptomatic of how gross human rights violations are routinized at all levels of North Korean society. The Asan Institute authors and invited panelists will discuss the research findings and policy recommendations of this report.
 
 
Slavery and Forced Labor: Beyond the UN Report on Human Rights in North Korea

with

Shin Chang-Hoon, Research Fellow and Director, Center for Global Governance, The Asan Institute for Policy Studies

Go Myong-Hyun, Research Fellow, Risk, Information & Social Policy Program, The Asan Institute for Policy Studies

Sue  Mi Terry, Senior Research Scholar, Columbia University

David Hawk, Author of The Hidden Gulag

Param-Preet Singh, Senior Counsel, International Justice Program, Human Rights Watch

William Newcomb, Visiting Scholar, U.S-Korea Institute, SAIS

Stephen Noerper, Senior Vice President, The Korea Society

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/slavery_and_forced_labor_beyond_the_un_report_on_human_rights_in_north_korea.html

November 21, 2014 - Harvard Belfer Center's John Park, one of the nation's most eminent Korea analysts, speaks to relations between Pyongyang and Beijing, with an eye to emerging fault lines and areas of continued commitment. Park explores the paradox of the DPRK’s reliance on the PRC for fuel and foodstuff and quest for strategic diversity and self-reliance. He weighs signals by Xi Jinping and potential new balancing following the year’s first ever visit by a Chinese President to Seoul over Pyongyang.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/rifts_and_binds_assessing_north_korea-china_relations.html

November 14, 2014 - Current undergraduate and graduate students are invited to join a panel discussion on career opportunities at U.S. and Korean organizations; get information on Korea-related resources, programs, and internships; and meet other New York-area students who share an interest in Korea at a night of networking at The Korea Society.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/special-events/student-night/navigating_your_future_from_ny_to_seoul.html