All Past Events

Korea Club will host Bryan Port who will give a presentation on his perspective regarding the recent developments on the Korean Peninsula.

Korea Club hosts Mr. Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy who will give a presentation on the current status of North Korea’s human rights and humanitarian situation. Having recently received the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit Heungin Medal from the South Korean government, Mr. Gershman will highlight the way forward with North Korean human rights policy.

KEI and the Colorado Springs World Affairs Council will host a Future of Korea program featuring Ambassador Jack Pritchard, President, Korea Economic Institute; Mr. Juseong Lim, First Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Korea; and Mr. Ed Shin, Office of the Korean Affairs, U.S. Department of State.

  The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership have partnered to create the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Leadership Roundtable Series.  Join AAPI public service leaders each month in Washington DC for an informal discussion on their personal paths to success, as well as various hot topics in the AAPI community, including health, economic growth, civil rights, civic engagement, and AAPI leadership development. Next Roundtable: Friday, March 30, 12:00-1:00pm @ 1800 K St. NW, 10th floor, Washington, DC Speaker: David S. Kim, Associate Administrator for Policy and Governmental Affairs at Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation Lunch will be provided courtesy of the Korea Economic Institute Due to limited space, only the first 30 RSVPs to each session will be guaranteed entrance.  Click here to sign up.

The Korea Economic Institute is proud to host four panels at the upcoming 2012 Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference in Toronto, Canada.  Come listen to leading policy experts, political scientists, sociologists and economists about the current status and future of the Korean peninsula and regional security, economy, foreign affairs, and sociological change.  Scholarly papers of the speakers will be available for the audience.    For more information, please contact Nicholas Hamisevicz: events@keia.org   

Korea has emerged as a strategic and development partner of Southeast Asia. At the same time, the US has been actively engaging Southeast Asia with its “Pivot” to Asia. Is there a convergence of the triangular relationship between Korea, Southeast Asia and the US? The Korea Compass series will explore Korea and U.S. policy towards Southeast Asia and the intersection between US-ROK relations, US-Southeast Asia relations, and ROK-Southeast Asia relations.

Policies toward Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are often used as evidence of North Korea’s efforts to reform economically. Kim Jong-il’s trips to China and Russia along with China’s increasing interest in developing its northeastern provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang have put renewed focus on the Rason SEZ. A new road and new investment laws provide some hope that positive changes are occurring, but a history of economic policy relapses, big questions over the profitability of the SEZ, and the capability of reforms taking hold North Korea make the prospect for the Rason SEZ’s success uncertain.

To stop the Iranian government’s on-going nuclear program, the U.S. and a number of partnering states have imposed heavy economic sanctions. These efforts, however, have done little to break Tehran’s political resolve and have ratcheted up tensions in the region. Thus, the U.S. government is currently discussing for even tighter sanctions against Iran. Being a major trading state and a large energy supplier of key Asian economies, the intensifying global sanction efforts could have a much broader negative impact than Iran's economy.  It could create disruption to Asian economies as well. 

The Korea Economic Institute will host a University Program at South Dakota State University to discuss South Korea's economic relations.

Each year, the Korea Economic Institute hosts Korean American Day, a premier luncheon to celebrate the achievements and contributions of the Korean American community. In 2012, we are privileged to recognize three Korean pioneers and leaders in the arts and literature. To learn more about Korean American Day and other KEI programs, please visit www.keia.org

On Friday, December 16, 2011, Security Advisor Abraham Denmark discussed his Academic Paper Series report, "Proactive Deterrence: The Challenge of Escalation Control on the Korean Peninsula," which focused on some of the issues involved with preemptive self-defense and proactive deterrence by South Korea. In addition, Mr. Denmark presented possible policies for South Korea and the United States that could mitigate  the potential for accidental escalation while sustaining deterrence over North Korea. 

The Korea Club and Korea Foundation are pleased to host a year-end celebration titled "Personal Reflections of US-Korea Relations" with Ambassador Kathleen Stephens and a performance by the Washington Sorichung.