U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Kathleen Stephens will present the talk "U.S.-Korea Relations: Where We've Been, Where We're Going" on March 2 at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.

President Obama has described U.S.-Korea relations as "stronger than they have ever been," and Ambassador Stephens will discuss why most observers today agree with that assessment. She will review the significance and status of recent major events and issues, including increased tensions with North Korea in the aftermath of its 2010 attacks on a South Korean naval vessel and a South Korean island in the Yellow Sea, and U.S. efforts to address these challenges. Ambassador Stephens will also describe South Korea's hosting of the G-20, and Korea's growing global role, as well as its implications for the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which is pending ratification in both countries' congresses. Finally, she will outline some of the other areas where U.S.-Korea cooperation is growing, and discuss key challenges facing the alliance going forward.

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Kathleen Stephens, a career minister in the U.S. Foreign Service, is the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea since taking up the post in 2008.

Ambassador Stephens joined the Foreign Service in 1978, and has served in numerous posts in Washington, Asia, and Europe, including the position of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2005 to 2007.

Ambassador Stephens holds a B.A. with honors in East Asian studies from Prescott College and a master's degree from Harvard University. She also holds honorary doctoral degrees from Chungnam National University and the University of Maryland. In addition to receiving the 2011 Pacific Century Institute's Building Bridges Award and the 2009 Presidential Meritorious Service Award, Ambassador Stephens is the recipient of numerous other awards and honors.

Ambassador Stephens was a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea from 1975 to 1977. Her foreign languages are Korean, Serbian, and Chinese.