The eighth session of the Korea-U.S. West Coast Strategic Forum was held at Stanford University on June 1, 2012. Established in 2006 and now convening semiannually alternately in Stanford and Seoul, the Forum brings together a distinguished group of South Korean (Republic of Korea, or ROK) and American scholars, experts, and former military and
government officials to discuss North Korea, the U.S.-ROK alliance, and regional dynamics in Northeast Asia. Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center is co-organizer of the Forum in association with its partner, the Sejong Institute of Korea. The Forum operates as a closed workshop under the Chatham House Rule of individual confidentiality, allowing participants to engage in frank, in-depth discussion of current and emerging issues of importance and interest to both countries.