The third edition of the SAIS U.S.-Korea Yearbook chronicles important developments in North and South Korea that characterized their relations with their allies and enemies in 2008. Each chapter was written by SAIS students in the course, “The Two Koreas: Contemporary Research and Record,” in the fall of 2008. Their insights were based not only on extensive reading and study, but also on numerous interviews conducted with government officials, scholars, NGO workers, academics and private sector experts in both Washington and Seoul.

The Yearbook is divided into two parts: South Korea’s Foreign Relations and North Korea’s Foreign Relations. In the first part, student authors explore the dynamic foreign policy changes that were brought about by the Lee Myung-bak administration, and how these policies affected South Korean politics both at home and abroad. In the second part, student authors explore how shifting power dynamics both in the United States, as well as among the member states of the Six-Party Talks, affected North Korea’s foreign relations in 2008. read more …

November 29, 2007

The International Reporting Project (IRP) at SAIS provided editors and producers from top U.S. news organizations with the opportunity to take a 10-day fact-finding tour of Korea, including a 26-hour visit to North Korea. The U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS cosponsored this program with IRP to provide a space for them to discuss their findings on the future of Korean unification, South Korean presidential politics, prospects for the Free Trade Agreement and the future of U.S.-Korean relations.

The Gatekeepers’ visit to Korea coincided with a trip to North Korea by a U.S. technical team that arrived to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. The IRP Gatekeepers spent most of their trip in South Korea, where they interviewed a wide cross-section of leaders in government, politics, business, health, academics, media and other walks of life.

Download Crossing the Divide: IRP Gatekeeper Editors Cover the Two Koreas.

Listen or download audio from the event.

Featured speakers

Will Englund, Associate Editorial Page Editor, The Baltimore Sun
Ray Locker, National Security Editor, USA Today
Michael Mosettig, Senior Producer, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
Patrick Pexton, SAIS alum and Deputy Editor, The National Journal

November 15, 2007

Seok Young Choi, Minister of Economic Affairs at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea opened the discussion with an analysis of the strategic opportunities of the Korea-U.S. FTA. Panel speakers Tami Overby, President of AMCHAM, Chris Cooper, President, Asia Region, Prudential International Investment, and David Ruch, Country Manager – Korea, United Airlines, continued the discussion and added their views on the economic relationship in their specific sectors.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, better known as AMCHAM, was founded in 1953 with a broad mandate to encourage the development of trade and commerce between Korea and the United States. Its membership has grown to over 2,300 members and includes over 1,000 member companies.

As part of the new Korea program at SAIS, a course was also introduced for the fall semester 2006: “The Two Koreas: Contemporary Research and Record.” SAIS students researched current issues in U.S. relations with North and South Korea under the direction of David Straub, a former director of Korean affairs at the State Department. In addition to conducting numerous interviews of U.S. government officials and other experts on U.S.-Korean relations in Washington, D.C., the students traveled as a group to Seoul to receive briefings from and conduct interviews with Korean government officials, scholars, and politicians. This inaugural edition of the U.S.-Korea Yearbook, covering the chief security, economic, and cultural issues in relations between the U.S. and the two Koreas in calendar year 2006, is the product of their research.

Download the full 2006 U.S.-Korea Yearbook

All SAIS U.S.-Korea Yearbooks

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