Now virtual!
The South Korean and American flags fly next to each other at Yongin, South Korea, August 23, 2016. Ken Scar/U.S. Army
Opportunities for Diplomacy: The United States and the Future of the Korean Peninsula
Presented by the World Affairs Councils of America in partnership with the Korean Economic Institute, this program will highlight the current state of relations between the US and the Republic of Korea. This event will feature a panel discussion moderated by Norwich University’s Yangmo Ku, Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the John and Mary Francis Patton Peace and War Center, and representatives from the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI), U.S. Department of State, and the Korean Embassy in the United States. The panel will address strategies for effectively strengthening political, economic, and military ties between the US and the Republic of Korea, and how the US could support the Republic of Korea and engage the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to bring an end to hostilities on the Korean Peninsula. Please contact ben@vcwa.org for more information.
Panelists
Kyle Ferrier
Fellow and Director of Academic Affairs, Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI)
Kyle Ferrier joined KEI as Fellow and Director of Academic Affairs in 2015. He is charged with managing KEI’s efforts to foster collaboration between the academic and policy communities. As part of his responsibilities, Mr. Ferrier is editor of KEI’s On Korea and Joint U.S.-Korea Academic Studies publications, working with editor-in-chief Gilbert Rozman on the latter. He also oversees KEI’s university programs, which reach hundreds of college students in the United States each year through organized lectures on timely Korea-related issues as well as a simulation on multilateral negotiations with North Korea.
Mr. Ferrier writes on U.S.-Korea relations, South Korean foreign affairs, South Korean domestic and international economic policy, and the political economy of the Asia-Pacific. He has been quoted in numerous media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and U.S. News & World Report, and is a regular contributor to KEI’s blog, The Peninsula, and The Diplomat.
Prior to joining KEI, Mr. Ferrier worked for the Bank of New York Mellon and was a Program Assistant in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the U.S. State Department. He was also a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant for the 2011-2012 grant year in Naju, South Korea. Mr. Ferrier holds an MSc in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics and a B.A. in Economics and Government and International Politics from George Mason University.
Hyun-Kyung Kim
Political Officer, Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Washington DC
Hyun-Kyung Kim is a political officer working at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Washington DC. Right before her current position, she worked as the Korean Exchange Diplomat in the U.S. Department of State in 2020.
She entered the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2012, and her previous tours in Seoul include the European Affairs Bureau in which she was the desk officer for Germany and Poland, the Protocol Office, and the International Economic Affairs Bureau where she was the desk officer for the OECD and UN ESCAP. She also worked in the Office of Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, supporting chief-negotiator level consultations and overseeing DPRK issues in ASEAN meetings.
She received her BA in International Relations from Seoul National University and an MA in Public Policy (MPP) from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Adding to Korean and English, she speaks German.
Moderator
Yangmo Ku
Associate Professor of Political Science
Associate Director of the John and Mary Frances Patton Peace & War Center
Norwich University
