From October 21st to 25th, the Sejong Institute hosted the '2024 Korea-U.S. Think Tank Joint Seminar' with six think tanks in Honolulu and Washington DC, and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
The 2024 U.S.-Korea Think Tank Joint Seminar was held to discuss with the U.S. policymakers the possible changes and implications of the U.S. presidential election results for U.S. foreign and security policies in the Korean Peninsula and East Asia. The seminar also aimed to derive policy proposals to minimize geopolitical instability that may arise after the election.
The participants from Korea for the 2024 U.S.-Korea Think Tank Joint Seminar are as follows
- Chairman Yong Joon Lee, Sejong Institute
- President Hyun Wook Kim, Sejong Institute
- Senior Research Fellow Beum-Cheol Shin, Sejong Institute
- Research Fellow Sungwon Lee, Sejong Institute
- Professor Sungcheol Jung, Myongji University
- Professor Dong-chan Kim, Yonsei University
- Research Fellow Boram Kwon, Korea Institute for Defense Analyses
On the morning of October 23, a joint seminar was held by the Heritage Foundation and the Sejong Institute in Washington, DC. In the first session of the seminar, Senior Research Fellow Beum-Cheol Shin at the Sejong Institute, spoke on “ROK-US Alliance and the implications of the US Presidential Election,” followed by Scott Snyder, Director of KEI, on “Implications of the US election on the US-South Korean alliance,” and a free discussion on the agenda and timing of the US-Korea summit after the inauguration of the new US administration was followed.
In the second session, Professor Dong-chan Kim from Yonsei University spoke on “US-China relations after US presidential election: Analysis on PRC's goal and strategy,” followed by Markus Garlauskas, Director of the Atlantic Council, who spoke on “Beyond the Peninsula: South Korean security policy in the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan contingencies.” This was followed by a free discussion among the participants on the division of roles between the U.S. and South Korea in the Indo-Pacific region and ways to develop trilateral cooperation.
The participants from the Herritage Foundation for the 2024 U.S.-Korea Think Tank Joint Seminar are as follows
- Senior Fellow Bruce Klingner, Heritage Foundation
- Research Fellow Michael Cunningham, Heritage Foundation
- President Scott Snyder, KEI
- Director Markus Garlauskas, Atlantic Council
- Specialist Mark Manyin, CRS
- Senior Advisor Henry Haggard, WestExec
- Vice President David Maxwell, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
- Sr. Vice President Steve Lee, Korea Defense Veterans Association
On the afternoon of October 23, a joint seminar by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) and the Sejong Institute discussed various possible scenarios in the event of Trump's election, including strategic decoupling of the U.S. from China, tariffs, and how the U.S.-ROK alliance will develop.
The participants from the AFPI for the 2024 U.S.-Korea Think Tank Joint Seminar are as follows
- Director Adam Savit, AFPI
- Policy Analyst Royce Hood, AFPI
On the morning of October 24, the Sejong Institute held a joint seminar with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Research Fellow Sungwon Lee from Sejong Institute, gave a presentation on “South Korea's Key Security Concerns and Strategic Responses in the Wake of the U.S. Presidential Election”. Sydney Seiler, Senior Advisor at CSIS, spoke on “Implications of the US elections for the US-ROK alliance” and Mirna Galic, Senior Policy Analyst at USIP, presented on “South Korea's role in strengthening the rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific”. Afterward, the panels discussed the implications of U.S.-ROK cooperation and responses to North Korea's military deployment to Russia.
The participants from the USIP for the 2024 U.S.-Korea Think Tank Joint Seminar are as follows
- Frank Aum (Senior Expert)
- Carla Freeman (Senior Expert)
- Mirna Galic (Senior Policy Analyst)
- Troy Stangarone (Wilson Center, Director)
- Markus Garlauskas (Atlantic Council, Director)
- Jenny Town (Stimson Center, Senior Fellow)
- Syd Seiler (CSIS, Senior Advisor)
- Jae Ku (Center for the National Interest, Senior Fellow)
On the afternoon of October 24, a joint seminar was held by the Center for a New Americans Security (CNAS) and the Sejong Institute. In the first session of the seminar, Research Fellow Bo-Ram Kwon, from the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, gave a presentation on “Alliance Relationship and Indo-Pacific Strategy after the US Presidential Election,” followed by Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a senior fellow at CNAS, on “A breakdown of the threat landscape: closer cooperation between the DPRK, Russia, and the PRC,” and a discussion on the changing international and regional security situation and the future of warfare as a result of the US presidential election. In the second session, Professor Sungcheol Jung from Myongji University gave a presentation on “ROK-US Alliance and the Indo-Pacific after the US Presidential Election,” followed by Darcie Draudt-Vejares, a research fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who spoke about “US-ROK alliance in the context of the upcoming US presidential elections.” This was followed by a discussion on negotiating the division of roles in the alliance and the use of the lattice alliance as a great power strategy.
The participants from the CNAS for the 2024 U.S.-Korea Think Tank Joint Seminar are as follows
- Richard Fontaine (CEO)
- Jacob Stokes (Senior Fellow)
- Andrea Kendall-Taylor (Senior Fellow)
- Kareen Hart (Senior Fellow)
- Doyeon Kim (Non-resident Senior Fellow)
- Ryan Claffy (Research Assistant)
- Keerthi Martyn (Research Assistant)
- Nicholas Lokker (Research Assistant)
- Patrick Cronin (Hudson Institute, Asia-Pacific Security Chair)
- Darcie Draudt-Vejares (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Fellow)
- Andrew Yeo (Brookings Institute, Senior Fellow)