Wed, 29 June 2016
Over the course of the past few decades, the People’s Republic Republic of China opened up and became a land of economic opportunity not only for South Korean companies but also for individual entrepreneurs. Today, over 70.000 South Koreans reside in Wangjing, a district of Beijing known as the city’s Koreatown. The enclave’s quick development has also attracted numerous Chinese citizens of Korean descent from Northern China who made it their home. To learn about how Korean Chinese and South Koreans live with each other in Wangjing, we had the honor of meeting with Professor Sharon Yoon. She told us about the history of Korean migration to China, the Korean enclave in Beijing as well as the difficulties Korean Chinese and South Koreans face when interacting with each other. Sharon Yoon is Assistant Professor at Ewha Womans University. She obtained her Bachelor in Asian Studies and Sociology from Dartmouth College and her PhD in Sociology from Princeton University. Before joining Ewha, Professor Yoon was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and at Osaka University. |
Mon, 20 June 2016
Just like South Korea is one of America’s most important partners in Asia, so is the United States a key ally for South Korea. The importance of this relationship is visible: the embassy of the United States sits right in the city center of Seoul and more than 25.000 American soldiers are currently stationed throughout the country. In opinion surveys, South Koreans state that they view the United States in a more positive light than any of their regional neighbors. An important role in the day-to-day management of this relationship is played by the diplomatic staff of the United States in South Korea. We had the unique opportunity to meet Mark Lippert, the current Ambassador of the United States to South Korea, as well as his staff and his basset hound Grigsby in his residence in Seoul. In our brief interview we spoke about his position and responsibilities, America’s perspective on regional issues and President Obama’s “Pivot to Asia.” Ambassador Lippert obtained his undergraduate and master's degrees from Stanford University, respectively in political science and international policy studies. Before he became Ambassador to South Korea in 2014, he was Chief of Staff for President Obama’s National Security Council and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs. |
Tue, 31 May 2016
Relations between Japan and South Korea are perplexing: the two countries are major trade partners and popular tourist destinations for each other’s people, they are democracies in a region with numerous authoritarian regimes and alliance partners of the United States. Yet, despite all this, their relations are troubled by territorial and historical issues that limit mutual understanding and cooperation. To learn more about these contentious relations, we met with Scott Snyder to talk about his latest book, The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States (Columbia University Press), which he wrote together with Brad Glosserman. We discussed the two countries' identities and perceptions of each other, the role that Japanese and Korean political leaders play in this context, the stakes that the United States has in this situation – and a possible way forward. Scott Snyder is Senior Fellow for Korea studies and Director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a think tank based in Washington D.C. He has received his BA from Rice University and his MA from the regional studies East Asia program at Harvard University. He was also a Thomas G. Watson fellow at Yonsei University in Seoul. We previously interviewed him in Episode 22 about South Korea’s role as a Middle Power. |