History, Politics, and Policy in the U.S.-Korea Alliance
Past Event
History, Politics, and Policy in the U.S.-Korea Alliance (Part 1)
History, Politics, and Policy in the U.S.-Korea Alliance (Part 1)
History, Politics, and Policy in the U.S.-Korea Alliance (Part 2)
Keynote Address by Robert L. Gallucci
Keynote Address by Han Sung-joo
The U.S.-ROK alliance is founded on the shared experiences of the Korean War and hopes for stability and peace on the peninsula. This history has a profound effect on the contemporary structure and public perception of the alliance. For example, in addition to strategic and technical factors, different interpretations of alliance history and visions of cooperation affect the issue of wartime operational control. At the same time, policy decisions and the handling of unforeseen events can affect the interpretation and politicization of historical issues. Understanding the nexus between history and policy is important to improving the policy process, and a lack of understanding of how the policy process works in different organizational settings and political contexts can misinform scholarship and public awareness.
On November 17, the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at Brookings hosted a conference discussing the relationship between history and U.S. policy toward Korea. The event featured a series of roundtable discussions among historians and policy practitioners representing a wide range of expertise and institutional knowledge. These “comparative conversations” provided analysis of other country cases of political division and reconciliation. Historical analysis of different regional powers’ approaches to peninsular reunification and a comparative exploration of U.S. approaches on human rights toward both Koreas and other countries concluded the conference.
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Agenda
Welcome and Introduction
Katharine H.S. Moon
Former Brookings Expert
Professor of Political Science, Wasserman Chair of Asian Studies - Wellesley College
Keynote Address
Robert Gallucci
President
Roundtable 1 - History and Policy: Issues, Process, Implementation
Sue Mi Terry
Director of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy - Wilson Center
Charles K. Armstrong
The Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies in the Social Sciences, Department of History - Columbia University
Victor Cha
Senior Vice President and Korea Chair - Center for Strategic and International Studies
Vice Dean for Faculty and Graduate Affairs and D.S.-Song - KF Professor of Government - Georgetown University
Johna Ohtagaki
Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian & Pacific Affairs - U.S. Department of Defense
Tae-Gyun Park
Professor of Modern Korean History, Graduate School of International Studies - Seoul National University
Roundtable 2 - Alliance Management: Bases, Weapons, and Command
Katharine H.S. Moon
Former Brookings Expert
Professor of Political Science, Wasserman Chair of Asian Studies - Wellesley College
Van Jackson
Visiting Fellow, Center for a New American Security - International Affairs Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
Michael Shulman
Political-Military Officer, Office of Korean Affairs, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs - U.S. Department of State
Andrew I. Yeo
Associate Professor, Department of Politics - Catholic University of America
Roundtable 3 - Division, Reconciliation, Peace-making: Lessons from other Lands
Henri Barkey
Bernard L. and Bertha F. Cohen Professor, Department of International Relations - Lehigh University
Stacie Goddard
Jane Bishop '51 Associate Professor of Political Science - Wellesley College
Lunch
Henri Barkey
Bernard L. and Bertha F. Cohen Professor, Department of International Relations - Lehigh University
Stacie Goddard
Jane Bishop '51 Associate Professor of Political Science - Wellesley College
Keynote Address
Remarks
Hans-Ulrich Seidt
Inspector General - Federal Foreign Office of Germany
Roundtable 5 - U.S. Policy on Human Rights toward the Koreas
Greg Scarlatoiu
Executive Director - Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
Richard C. Bush
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, John L. Thornton China Center
Namhee Lee
Associate Professor of Modern Korean History, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures - University of California, Los Angeles
Mark Schneider
Senior Vice President and Special Adviser on Latin America - International Crisis Group
Jiyoung Song
Assistant Professor of Political Science, School of Social Sciences - Singapore Management University
Closing Remarks
Katharine H.S. Moon
Former Brookings Expert
Professor of Political Science, Wasserman Chair of Asian Studies - Wellesley College
Reception
Katharine H.S. Moon
Former Brookings Expert
Professor of Political Science, Wasserman Chair of Asian Studies - Wellesley College
Registration
Katharine H.S. Moon
Former Brookings Expert
Professor of Political Science, Wasserman Chair of Asian Studies - Wellesley College
Discussion on Division, Reconciliation, Peace-making
Katharine H.S. Moon
Former Brookings Expert
Professor of Political Science, Wasserman Chair of Asian Studies - Wellesley College
Henri Barkey
Bernard L. and Bertha F. Cohen Professor, Department of International Relations - Lehigh University
Stacie Goddard
Jane Bishop '51 Associate Professor of Political Science - Wellesley College
Hans-Ulrich Seidt
Inspector General - Federal Foreign Office of Germany
Roundtable 4 - Reunification and Regional Powers: Historical Views and Policies toward the Koreas
John Merrill
Korea Chair Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies - Visiting Scholar, School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University
Alexis Dudden
Professor, Department of History - University of Connecticut
Steven H. Lee
Associate Professor, Department of History - University of British Columbia
Jonathan D. Pollack
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, John L. Thornton China Center
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