Dr. Jin Hyun Kim is the former chairman of Munwha Ilbo, one of Korea's major daily newspapers, and former Minister of Science and Technology in South Korea. A longtime journalist, Dr. Kim currently serves as senior research advisor to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

Carter J. Eckert is Professor of Korean History and Director of the Korea Institute at Harvard University. Since 1985, he has been teaching Korean history at Harvard and working to build up the Harvard Korean studies program there. He is the author of a number of books and articles, including Offspring of Empire: The Colonial Origins of Korean Capitalism, which received the John K. Fairbank Prize in East Asian History from the American Historical Association, as well as the John Whitney Hall Book Prize from the Association for Asian Studies. Currently he is engaged in several projects relating to modern Korean history, including the Cambridge History of Korea, and a study of the late president of South Korea, Park Chung Hee, and the role of the military in South Korea's national development.

12:00 p.m. Akira Kobayashi, Japan Patent Office (DO) "How to Handle Patents in Venture Companies" 12:20 p.m. Joseph Huang, AllCan Investment Company (MH) "Venture Capitals and Entrepreneurship in the Silicon Valley and the Greater China Region" 12:40 p.m. Seishi Nakatani, Shiraimatsu Pharmaceutical (DO) "Evaluation of the IT Industry Potential" 1:00 p.m. Tetsuo Fujita, Japan Research Institute (GS) "The Role of Information Technology on the Economic Development of Japan" 1:20 p.m. Makoto Kawashima, Ministry of Finance (DO) "Recent Changes to the Banking Business Model and the U.S. Response" 1:40 p.m. Eui Yong Chung, Samsung Company (GS) "Collaboration Between the U.S. and Korea in the Semi-Conductor Industry"

Democracy in South Korea has gone through four decades of transition and is finally at a consolidation stage. Democratic constitutionalism is slowly being accepted as a new guiding principle in the public life in the country which is still a predominantly collectivity- or person-oriented society. Democracy as a political ideal and institution came from the West and, is, by virtue of its origins, individualist in that the individual conscience is the ultimate source of decision about what is right and wrong (E.H. Carr). Will constitutionalism, then, eventually replace collectivism-personalism (which puts emphasis on group and person over and against the individual) and establish an individualist democracy in South Korea? Or, since the traditional collectivist-personalist ethic survived democratic encroachment and accommodated itself to the democratic polity, will there be a new form of democracy? If so, how different it will be from Western democracy? The aim of this paper is to explore these issues.

This program is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided for those who RSVP before noon on Wednesday, February 6th to Okky Choi Tel: 650/724-8271 Email: okkychoi@Stanford.EDU According to other regions' experiences including those of the Mediterranean region in Europe, the existence of a regional leader (such as France in the Mediterranean region) can facilitate the cooperation needed to adequately address regional pollution problems. South Korea may be a likely candidate for such a leadership role in Northeast Asian environmental cooperation initiatives. South Korea has not only been active in various regional efforts, but has also been successful in developing its own environmental institutions at the domestic level. However, the unique geopolitical situation in Northeast Asia limits South Korea's ability to exert a true leadership role in the region. Instead, South Korea can be a "facilitator" of the regional initiatives in Northeast Asia where no state can play a similar role that France played in the Mediterranean region.