President Sang-hyun Lee of Sejong Institute attended the Alliance Night Reception hosted by the Consulate of Honolulu on December 5 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the alliance. The reception was attended by Consul General Seo-young Lee, Korea Ambassador to the United States Hyun-dong Cho, Josh Green, Governor of Hawaii, and Commander John Aquilino of the Indo-Pacific Command. 

Following the "Alliance Night," a discussion with experts was held on Dec. 6 with the Daniel Inoue Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI-APCSS) in Honolulu, Hawaii, as part of the Korea-U.S. think tank meeting. 

The Korean participants include President Sang-hyun Lee, Jae-cheon Kim, professor at Seogang University, Gu-yeon Jeong, professor at Kangwon University, Gil-ju Ban, researcher at Korea University Ilmin Institute, Dong-chan Kim from Yonsei University, Soo-hoon Lee from KIDA, and Sung-won Lee, researcher at Sejong Institute. This year's meeting was sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

From the APCSS, Matthew Kent, James M. Minnich, Bill Wieninger (Professor, DKI‐APCSS), Lami Kim (Professor, DKI‐APCSS), Sungmin Cho (Professor, DKI‐APCSS), Jacqueline L. Hearne (Lieutenant Colonel, DKI‐APCSS), Alexander S. Park (Lieutenant Colonel, DKI‐APCSS) attended the discussion.

At the meeting, various topics were discussed, including the recent security situation on the Korean Peninsula, the cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan after the Camp David summit, and the impact of the U.S.-China strategic confrontation on the Asia-Pacific region.

The following Pacific Forum discussion, the role of alliances in the Indo-Pacific region, deterrence against expansion, and new security trends were discussed. Participants include Ralph Cosa, honorary chairman, David Santoro, president & CEO of the Pacific Forum, John Hemmings, director of the Indo-Pacific Security Center, and Robert York, a researcher.​