Katharine H.S. Moon
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies
Katharine (Kathy) H.S. Moon is nonresident senior fellow and the inaugural holder of the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies in the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at The Brookings Institution. She also is a professor of Political Science and Wasserman Chair of Asian Studies at Wellesley College. She received her bachelor's magna cum laude from Smith College and a doctorate from Princeton University in the Department of Politics. She was born in San Francisco.
Kathy Moon’s analytical approach is to bridge domestic politics and foreign policy. Moon is the author of "Protesting America: Democracy and the U.S.-Korea Alliance," which illustrates 1) how democracy has given rise to Korean civil society activism relating to the U.S.-Korea alliance; 2) the comparative politics of U.S. overseas basing; and 3) the institutional and procedural changes needed to improve the management of the alliance. Kathy Moon also authored "Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S.-Korea Relations," which explains how foreign policy decisions affect local communities and the lives of poor and marginalized women. Moon’s research encompasses the U.S.-Korea alliance, East Asian politics, inter-Korean relations, socio-political changes in North Korea, and the role of Korean-Americans in U.S. foreign policy. She also studies democratization, nationalisms, women and gender politics, migration and identity, and comparative social movements in East Asia, including human rights. Her publications include:
“Influencing South Korea's Democracy: China, North Korea, and Defectors”
“Challenging U.S. Hegemony: Asian Nationalism and Anti-Americanism in East Asia”
“Beyond Demonization: A New Strategy for Human Rights in North Korea”
“Resurrecting Prostitutes and Overturning Treaties: Gender Politics in the South Korean ‘Anti-American’ Movement”
“Ethnicity and U.S. Foreign Policy: Korean Americans”
Moon is currently working on a book that analyzes the impact of demographic change in South Korea on Korean democracy and foreign policy. She is also editing a volume on Korean-Americans as new actors in American politics and in U.S.-Korea relations.
Research support from organizations such as the Henry Luce Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, The George Washington University, The Fulbright Program, the American Association of University Women, the National Bureau of Asian Research, and the Social Science Research Council have facilitated Moon’s research. Moon also served in the Office of the Senior Coordinator for International Women’s Issues in the U.S. Department of State and as a trustee of Smith College.
Affiliations:
Korea Working Group, Harvard Kennedy School
Asia Society, New York, associate fellow
The National Committee on North Korea, Steering Committee member
Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights, Advisory Board
Katharine (Kathy) H.S. Moon is nonresident senior fellow and the inaugural holder of the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies in the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at The Brookings Institution. She also is a professor of Political Science and Wasserman Chair of Asian Studies at Wellesley College. She received her bachelor’s magna cum laude from Smith College and a doctorate from Princeton University in the Department of Politics. She was born in San Francisco.
Kathy Moon’s analytical approach is to bridge domestic politics and foreign policy. Moon is the author of “Protesting America: Democracy and the U.S.-Korea Alliance,” which illustrates 1) how democracy has given rise to Korean civil society activism relating to the U.S.-Korea alliance; 2) the comparative politics of U.S. overseas basing; and 3) the institutional and procedural changes needed to improve the management of the alliance. Kathy Moon also authored “Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S.-Korea Relations,” which explains how foreign policy decisions affect local communities and the lives of poor and marginalized women. Moon’s research encompasses the U.S.-Korea alliance, East Asian politics, inter-Korean relations, socio-political changes in North Korea, and the role of Korean-Americans in U.S. foreign policy. She also studies democratization, nationalisms, women and gender politics, migration and identity, and comparative social movements in East Asia, including human rights. Her publications include:
“Influencing South Korea’s Democracy: China, North Korea, and Defectors”
“Challenging U.S. Hegemony: Asian Nationalism and Anti-Americanism in East Asia”
“Beyond Demonization: A New Strategy for Human Rights in North Korea”
“Resurrecting Prostitutes and Overturning Treaties: Gender Politics in the South Korean ‘Anti-American’ Movement”
“Ethnicity and U.S. Foreign Policy: Korean Americans”
Moon is currently working on a book that analyzes the impact of demographic change in South Korea on Korean democracy and foreign policy. She is also editing a volume on Korean-Americans as new actors in American politics and in U.S.-Korea relations.
Research support from organizations such as the Henry Luce Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, The George Washington University, The Fulbright Program, the American Association of University Women, the National Bureau of Asian Research, and the Social Science Research Council have facilitated Moon’s research. Moon also served in the Office of the Senior Coordinator for International Women’s Issues in the U.S. Department of State and as a trustee of Smith College.
Affiliations:
Korea Working Group, Harvard Kennedy School
Asia Society, New York, associate fellow
The National Committee on North Korea, Steering Committee member
Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights, Advisory Board
Koreans really have to think hard about how to motivate young people and meet them part way, not only with job opportunities but better working environments. [They are] "the backs on which the middle-aged and elderly people are going to be eating, sleeping and surviving for the next few decades.
It doesn’t hurt to have a good cop, bad cop when you’re dealing with a very tough opponent, which North Korea is. But we are not in an ideal world situation in politics, and the times right now don’t call for that much of a good cop frankly.
The first thing [for the new South Korean President Moon Jae-in to do] is to reduce the current military and political escalation created by both Pyongyang and Washington without Seoul’s input.
Moon [Jae-in] has said he wants South Korea to follow a more independent path vis-a-vis the United States, but that does not mean reneging on the alliance [as even serious differences between previous U.S. and South Korean leaders — and strong anti-American sentiment among parts of South Korean society in the past — did not pose a significant threat to the alliance].
[Trump's seeming changeability] has made the U.S. into this big question mark as an alliance partner [of South Korea].
When [South Koreans] actually vote [in the presidential election] it’s going to be more about youth unemployment and economic issues.