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Shorenstein APARC Center Overview 2018-19

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Shorenstein APARC's annual overview for academic year 2018-19 is now available.

Learn about the research, events, and publications produced by the Center's programs over the last twelve months. Feature sections look at U.S.-China relations and the diplomatic impasse with North Korea, and summaries of current Center research on the socioeconomic impact of new technologies, the success of Abenomics, South Korean nationalism, and how Southeast Asian countries are navigating U.S.-China competition. Catch up on the Center's policy work, education initiatives, and outreach/events.

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Binary Choices: U.S.-China Strategic Competition and the Korean Peninsula

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U.S.-China relations have evolved from past templates of  "responsible stakeholder" and "G2" to new ones emphasizing strategic competition.  What is the impact of this competition for broader stability in East Asia?  How does the ongoing U.S.-China trade war impact U.S. allies in Asia?   In particular, how does strategic competition between these two power affect the choices of key allied states like Korea?  Professor Cha will present some research-in-progress on these topics that seeks a broader conceptualization of the costs and benefits behind the latest turn in U.S.-China relations.

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Victor Cha is a 2019-20 Koret Fellow at Stanford's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center during the winter quarter.  He is Vice Dean and holds the D.S. Song-KF Chair in Government and International Relations at Georgetown University, and is also Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington D.C. He formerly served on the National Security Council staff and as the US Deputy head of delegation for the Six Party talks. Professor Cha received a PhD in political science and a master's in international affairs from Columbia University; an MA in philosophy, politics, and economics from the University of Oxford; and an AB in economics from Columbia University.

Victor Cha <i>Professor of Government, Georgetown University</i>
Seminars
Korean Studies Colloquium Series

What U.S.-China Strategic Competition Means for the Korea-U.S. Relationship

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Panelists:

Young-Sun Ha, Chairman, East Asia Institute, South Korea; Professor emeritus, Political Science and International Relations, Seoul National University

Wang Hwi Lee, Professor, Political Science, Ajou University, South Korea

Thomas Fingar, Shorenstein APARC Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

Gi-Wook Shin (moderator), Director, Shorenstein APARC;  William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea, Stanford University

 

Panel Discussions
Korean Studies Colloquium Series

North Korea's Economic Openness: Implications for Inter-Korea and U.S. Cooperation

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North Korea’s international trade has increased by more than three times since mid-1990's. Using various data sources and a frontier theory of international trade, North Korea's economic gains from trade can be quantified to show the gains are substantial. This implies that the opportunity cost of abandoning economic openness is high, thus, this is an important leverage to promote North Korea’s political openness and denuclearization. However, the current economic openness of North Korea has a fundamental limitation because of its heavy reliance on China. The China-dependence pattern of its trades has only recently emerged. It is worth noting that North Korea’s trades were much more diversified before 2008. The comparative advantage analysis shows that North Korea’s trades can be diversified as before; and cooperation among North Korea, South Korea, and the United States can play an important role for the diversification if it is shaped from global perspectives rather than by the bilateral relations.

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Hyeok Jeong (PhD, University of Chicago) is a professor at the Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS), Seoul National University. His main research interests include economic growth and development, productivity and inequality dynamics in relation to financial deepening and labor market issues such as human capital and demographic transition. His recent research agenda also includes the influences of firm and product dynamics on international trade, higher education reform, Korea’s long-term development process, evolution of Korea’s demographic dividends, North Korean economy, and international development cooperation on issues such as knowledge sharing and development finance. Prior to joining the faculty of GSIS in 2015, he was a professor of economics at the University of Southern California and Vanderbilt University; National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Japan; and the KDI School of Public Policy and Management in Korea.

 

 

Hyeok Jeong <i>Professor, Seoul National University</i>
Seminars
Korean Studies Colloquium Series

Robert R. King

Shorenstein APARCStanford UniversityEncina Hall E301Stanford, CA 94305-6055
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Koret Fellow, 2019-20
Visiting Scholar at APARC
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Ph.D.

Robert R. King was a Visiting Scholar, Koret Fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) during the 2019 fall term.  He is the former U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues at the U.S. Department of State (2009-2017).  He is Special Advisor to the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a non-resident Fellow at the Korea Economic Institute, and a member of the board of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. 

Ambassador King’s research interests include North Korea human rights, Northeast Asia, U.S. foreign policy, and the Congressional role in U.S. foreign affairs.  During his time at Shorenstein APARC, he researched the United States efforts to promote human rights in North Korea.

Before assuming his position at the Department of State, King was Staff Director and Minority Staff Director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives (2001-2009).  He served as Chief of Staff to Congressman Tom Lantos of California (1983-2008).  He was a White House Fellow on the staff of the National Security Council (1977-1978), and Senior Analyst and Assistant Director of Research at Radio Free Europe in Munich, Germany (1970-1977).

King holds a PhD and an MALD in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a BA in political Science from Brigham Young University.

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Pressing North Korea on Human Rights is Key to Making Progress on Security Issues

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President Trump has stopped even mentioning North Korea’s abysmal human rights record in order to secure meetings with Leader Kim Jong-un ostensibly to make progress on serious security issues with North Korea.  After 18 months of White House effort and two and a half summits, however, there has been little progress on denuclearization.  Ambassador King argues that we must push North Korea on human rights in order to encourage the government in Pyongyang to respond positively the wishes of its own citizens.  Unless we do this, we are unlikely to see real progress on shifting North Korea’s focus from nuclear weapons and missiles to the wellbeing of its own people.

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Ambassador Robert R. King is former Special Envoy for North Korean human rights issues at the Department of State (2009-2017).  Since leaving that position, he has been senior advisor to the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a senior fellow at the Korea Economic Institute (KEI), and a board member of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) in Washington, D.C.  Previously, Ambassador King served for 25 years on Capitol Hill (1983-2008) as chief of staff to Congressman Tom Lantos (D-California), and staff director of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (2001-2008).

 

Robert R. King <i>2019-20 Koret Fellow, Shorenstein APARC, Stanford University</i>
Seminars
Korean Studies Colloquium Series

"Trilateral Framework at Risk" – APARC Director on South Korea's Decision to End Its Military Agreement with Japan

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South Korea's decision to end its military agreement with Japan will damage the prospect of continued close security ties among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo because the pact has been a symbol of smooth trilateral military cooperation between them and regarded as a key deterrent against North Korea.

"It is a big mistake," Shin Gi-wook, a Korea studies expert at Stanford University, said in a recent interview adding Seoul's withdrawal from the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) puts the "trilateral security framework at risk."

"The Japan-South Korea relationship may not have hit rock bottom, but it could further deteriorate in the coming months," Shin said. "This is all the more important with the continuing threat of North Korean WMD and the escalating conflict between the U.S. and China in the region. I am concerned that South Korea could be further isolated in the Northeast Asian region—the Moon administration should see the big picture," the professor said…

Read the full article in The Korea Times.

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Two Experts to Join the Korea Program as Koret Fellows in Korean Studies

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The Korea Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center is pleased to welcome Robert R. King and Victor Cha as Koret fellows in Korean studies during the 2019-20 academic year. Supported by the Koret Foundation, the Koret Fellowship brings leading professionals to Stanford to conduct research on contemporary Korean affairs with the broad aim of strengthening ties between the United States and Korea.​

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Robert R. King will join the Korea Program as Koret Fellow during the fall quarter of 2019. King served as special envoy for North Korean human rights Issues, an ambassadorial ranked position at the Department of State (2009-2017). The role was established by Congress in the North Korea Human Rights Act with a mandate to “coordinate and promote efforts to improve respect for the fundamental human rights of the people of North Korea.” Since leaving the Department of State, Ambassador King has been senior advisor to the Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a senior fellow at the Korea Economic Institute (KEI), and a board member of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK).

Earlier, Ambassador King served for 25 years (1983-2008) on Capitol Hill as chief of staff to Congressman Tom Lantos (D-California), and as staff director and minority staff director of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (2001-2008). King received a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University and a B.A. from Brigham Young University.

Portrait of Victor Cha

Victor Cha, professor of government and international affairs at Georgetown University, will join the Korea Program as the Koret Fellow through the winter quarter of 2020. He is the author of five books, including The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future (Haper Collins, 2012) and Powerplay: Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia (Princeton University Press, 2016). He holds Georgetown's Dean's Award for teaching for 2010, the Distinguished Research Award for 2011, and a Distinguished Principal Investigator Award for 2016.

Professor Cha left the White House in 2007 after serving since 2004 as Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, where he was responsible for Japan, the Korean peninsula, Australia/New Zealand, and Pacific Island affairs. He serves as Senior Advisor at CSIS, and is a non-resident Fellow in Human Freedom at the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas, Texas. He received a Ph.D. from Columbia University, M.A. from the University of Oxford, and MIA and B.A. from Columbia University.

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8th Annual Korean Studies Writing Prize Awarded

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Taehwa Hong (BA '21 International Relations) has been awarded the 8th annual Korea Program Prize for Writing in Korean Studies for his paper, "North Korea in the Soviet-Albanian Dispute." Yong Suk Lee, deputy director of the Korea Program at Shorenstein APARC, says, "Hong's paper is an outstanding piece of research and writing." "The paper delves into a rather novel topic - how North Korea diplomatically responded to the Albanian Crisis between two socialist powers, the Soviet Union and China." The details of the announcement may be viewed here.

Sponsored by the Korea Program and the Center for East Asian Studies, the writing prize recognizes and rewards outstanding examples of writing by Stanford students in an essay, term paper or thesis produced during the current academic year in any discipline within the area of Korean studies, broadly defined. The competition is open to both undergraduate and graduate students.

Past Recipients:

7th Annual Prize (2018)

6th Annual Prize (2017)

 

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1919 in Korea: National Resistance and Contending Legacies

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The year 2019 is the centennial of several anti-colonialist movements that emerged in Asia, including the March First Movement of Korea, the first nationwide political protest in Korea under Japanese colonial rule. Although the movement failed to achieve national sovereignty, it left important legacies for Korea and other parts of Asia under foreign dominance. In this essay, Gi-Wook Shin and Rennie Moon discuss the origins of the March First Movement, its impact on colonial Korea and other parts of Asia that fought against imperialist dominance, and its implications for postcolonial and contemporary Korea, North and South.

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The Journal of Asian Studies
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Gi-Wook Shin
Rennie Moon
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