[KS] Korea Conference at Cambridge University, UK

D.K. Prendergast dkp20 at hermes.cam.ac.uk
Thu Feb 21 11:56:09 EST 2002


Dear List Members,

The following conference will take place from April 3rd to the 6th 2002.
If anyone would like further information, please contact me at
dkp20 at hermes.cam.ac.uk and I will send you a conference flyer with a
detailed schedule and registration form through the post and/or email.

Best Wishes,

David Prendergast
-----------------------------------------------------------------

To mark the establishment of Korean Studies in Cambridge and to promote
research into the contemporary international relations of East Asia, the
University of Cambridge, through its East Asia Institute, intends to hold
a major international conference on the international relations of the
Korean Peninsula in April 2002.

The conference will run over three days, from April 3rd to 6th, involving
some 130 participants from Europe, North America and East Asia, and will
combine major addresses by leading policy makers and specialists involved
in Korean affairs, with a series of extended round-table discussions
focusing on the following themes:

1. Economic reform North and South and the legacy of the Asian Financial
Crisis
2. Prospects for Korean Unification
3. Regional Security and the Korean Peninsula
4. Domestic Politics in the Republic of Korea

In light of your long-standing professional involvement with and knowledge
of Korea, I and my colleagues at the Institute would very much like to
invite you to attend our proceedings.

Conference Objectives

The purpose of the conference is to provide a forum for discussion of the
key problems currently facing the peninsula that will be relevant not only
to academic specialists but also to policy-makers, business leaders,
journalists and commentators on international affairs.  The round-table
discussions will be prefaced by three keynote addresses given by prominent
international figures closely involved in Korean affairs and we anticipate
participation by a number of prominent political and business
representatives from South Korea, as well as possible involvement by a
number of North Korean government officials.

The intention of the conference is not only to analyse the contemporary
situation, but also to anticipate likely trends in the immediate to
medium-term future, while also (where relevant) suggesting specific policy
proposals for dealing with particularly pressing issues.

Issues that are likely to be of central concern include (but are not
limited to):

* The mechanics of political reconciliation between the two Koreas
* The role of external actors - individual countries (the United States,
Japan, mainland China), supranational bodies (the European Commission),
and non-governmental organisations (KEDO, the World Food Program) - in
resolving north-south tensions
* Structural and administrative reform in South Korea and the prospects
for a new 'Korean model' of economic development
* International assistance and the challenge of addressing food, energy
and resource (in)security in North Korea
* The prospects for economic reform in North Korea
* The nature of regime legitimacy in both Koreas, both historically and at
present
* The challenges posed by intra-Korean rivalry to regional security within
East Asia

Participants

Speakers and panellists at the conference are drawn from a variety of
areas, including academia, government and the private sector. We expect
the conference to be addressed by:

Stephen Bosworth, former US Ambassador to South Korea;
Madame Park Guen Hye, Vice-President of South Korea's opposition Grand
National Party (GNP)
Chung Un-Chan, Professor of Economics and Dean, Seoul National University

Other invited speakers at the conference include, but are not limited to:

Chang Beom-Cho; Deputy Minister for Policy Affairs, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade, ROK
Norman Levin, RAND Institute, California
Chil-doo Kim, Deputy Minister for  Trade and Investment, Ministry of
Commerce, Industry and Energy, ROK;
Chung Okim, Security specialist, Sejong Insitute, Seoul, Korea
Bruno Salzmann, Professor of Sociology, University of Hanover, Germany;
Paul Chamberlin, President, Korea-U.S. Consulting, Inc.
Wendy Sherman, former special counselor in the Clinton White House
responsible for negotiating with North Korea;
Ra Jong-Yil, ROK Ambassador to the UK;
Senior Official [TBA], Northeast Asia and Pacific Department, Foreign and
Commonwealth Office, UK;
Tat Yan Kong, Dept. of Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies
Dominique Dwor-Frecaut, Barclays Capital and formerly principle Korea
specialist at the World Bank;
Geoffrey Hawthorn, Professor of International Politics, University of
Cambridge;
Scott Snyder, Asia Society representative in Seoul and specialist on South
Korean domestic politics;
Howard Balloch, former Canadian Ambassador to the PRC and DPRK;
Marcus Noland, reserch fellow of the Institute of International Economics
in Washington, DC and specialist on the North Korean economy;
Victor Cha, Professor in the Department of Government, Georgetown
University, Washington, D.C.;
Chang Ha-Joon, Faculty of Economics and Politics, University of Cambridge;
Lee Chang-Jae, Director of the Northeast Asia Research and Information
Center, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy;
Lee, Bu-Young, Member of the National Assembly of South Korea, Grand
National Party (GNP);
Robert Binyon, Managing Director, CDC Capital Partners;
Michael J. Green, Director for Asian Affairs, U.S. National Security
Council (NSC);
Junn Sung-chull, Chairman of the International Trade Commission, Republic
of Korea, Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Business School, Sejong
University, South Korea
Ahn Choong-Yong, Professor of Economics, Chung-Ang University, South
Korea;
Rosemary Foot, Professor of International Relations, St. Antony's College,
University of Oxford;
Hazel Smith, specialist on North Korea currently based at the Institute of
World Peace, Washington, DC;
Aidan Foster-Carter, UK-based specialist and commentator on the two
Koreas;
Tony Michell, Head of EuroAsian Business Consultancy, Seoul.


The conference will be followed by the annual meeting of the U.K.-Korea
Forum for the Future, whose secretariat is based at Asia House, London. A
number of the forum's members (drawn from business and political circles
in both South Korea and the UK), are likely also to be participating in
the conference proceedings.

The conference proceedings will take place in the University's
International Law Centre and accommodation for the conference delegates
will be provided by Clare College. We hope to publish the proceedings of
the conference in a suitable format - the senior editor at Curzon Press,
part of the Taylor & Francis Group, has expressed strong interest in
publishing the proceedings - and anticipate that this will be the first of
a series of annual or biannual international events in Cambridge
addressing issues of central importance to the Korean peninsula.

I do very much hope you will be able to join us in an event that promises
to be of major importance for scholars and specialists involved in the
international relations of East Asia. I have enclosed a copy of our
provisional program for the conference.  Should you require further
information before making your decision, please do not hesitate to contact
either myself (email: jhs22 at hermes.cam.ac.uk) or my colleagues: Patricia
Mirrlees (+44-1223-335101; email: pw229 at cam.ac.uk)  and David Prendergast
(email: dkp20 at hermes.cam.ac.uk ).

With best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

John Swenson-Wright

University Lecturer
Acting Director
Korean Studies Centre
East Asia Institute
University of Cambridge












More information about the Koreanstudies mailing list