Media Advisory: Duke Conference Looks at Contemporary Korean Politics
An adviser to South Korea's current president who is a visiting professor at Duke will be among the participants
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
As international leaders struggle to deal with North Korea's nuclear ambitions and a new president prepares to take office in South Korea, some of the world's top experts from Korea and the United States will gather this week at Duke University for a one-day conference on contemporary Korean politics. The conference is open to the media, but not to the general public.
Panelists include Chung-in Moon, a visiting professor at Duke who is an adviser to South Korea's current president; Sung-min Jang, a former South Korean National Assembly member and a visiting fellow at Duke; and retired Gen. Jae Chang Kim, former deputy commander in chief of the Korea and United States Combined Forces Command.
Duke political science professor Emerson Niou, the conference organizer, said he was excited to have such well-informed experts addressing the timely concerns about both nations. "The issues are really hot, and the speakers are really in the policy circle," he said. "They should be able to give very informative talks on these issues."
The conference will comprise three panel discussions addressing North Korea's nuclear threat, the leaders of North and South Korea, and Korean unification. The morning session will focus on coping with North Korea's nuclear threat, with presentations on understanding the crisis and offering a South Korean perspective on managing the North Korean nuclear threat.
A second session, called "The Two Unknowns," will include two talks: one on president-elect of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, and a second examining North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il. "The South Korean leader is an unknown. The North Korean leader is also an unknown," Niou said. "And now we have this nuclear issue."
The closing session will address the U.S.-Korean relationship as well as issues of unification.
The conference is co-sponsored by the Korea Forum, the Program in Asian Security Studies and the Asian/Pacific Studies Institute at Duke, and Youngil Enterprise of Korea. The conference will be from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, in the Kresge Classroom of the R. David Thomas Conference Center, on Duke's West Campus.
Media planning to attend the conference are asked to contact in advance Susan Emery at (919) 660-4305 or susan.emery@duke.edu. Emerson Niou will be available after Thursday, Jan. 23, at (919) 660-4307 or by e-mail at niou@duke.edu.
