The Korea Society

May 3, 2023 - Join us for the latest episode of our Leadership Interview Series with FILA Holdings Corporation & Acushnet Holdings Corporation Chairman Gene Yoon, moderated by The Korea Society’s President & CEO Tom Byrne. Chairman Gene Yoon has a legendary story of success as a self-made businessman. His early career in business was a stepping stone that paved the way to his leveraged buyout of the global FILA brand in 2007. He brought the storied Italian-born brand back to life after taking the company public in Korea in 2010. Chairman Yoon will share inspiring lessons and insights learned from his remarkable career, guided by his entrepreneurial spirit. Chairman Yoon will recount his career milestones and how he achieved business successes against formidable odds. He currently serves as the Chairman of both FILA Holdings Corporation and Acushnet Holdings Corporation, which hold the trademarks for FILA as well as Titleist and FootJoy respectively. Under his leadership, he has propelled both firms to oversee leading global golf and sportswear brands. Chairman Yoon has received numerous accolades in his career and serves on the board of The Korea Society. For more information, please visit the link below: https://www.koreasociety.org/policy-and-corporate-programs/item/1659-interview-with-fila-acushnet-holdings-corporation-chairman-gene-yoon

Recorded April 27, 2023 - Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing field with the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our lives. However, the possible consequences of AI are bifold. While it has enabled dramatic improvements by achieving quick and efficient results, it also raises fears of the unknown. Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking YPN interview with Professor Jeongki Lim, a leading expert in transdisciplinary design. In this interactive program with Professor Lim, he walks through his career journey on how he landed on his current position and shares invaluable insights gained through his years of experience and research in the creative technology and design industry. Prof. Lim also explores how AI technologies have impacted creative industries and beyond, as well as the challenges and opportunities they have posed in shaping the future. This discussion is moderated by Tae Young Woo, Co-Founder and CEO of Finestra. For more information, please visit the link below: https://koreasociety.org/special-events/item/1664-ypn-a-conversation-with-prof-jeongki-lim-our-future-with-ai

April 28, 2023 - Join us for this conversation on the major diplomatic, security, and economic takeaways from the US-Korea Summit between US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. The Korea Society is joined by former ROK Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo, Van Fleet Nonresident Senior Fellow Dr. Katrin Katz and The Washington Post Seoul Bureau Chief Michelle Ye Hee Lee, in conversation with Korea Society President and CEO Tom Byrne. For more information, please visit the link below: https://www.koreasociety.org/policy-and-corporate-programs/item/1671-us-korea-summit-analysis

April 27, 2023 - Join us for a discussion that aims to cultivate fresh ideas on America’s policy toward North Korea and coordination with ally South Korea by mobilizing a nuanced understanding of past lessons. The discussion includes consideration of developments to the approach addressed in the summit meeting between US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. The program features Professor Jeong-Ho Roh, Director of the Center for Korean Legal Studies, Jenny Town, Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center and the Director of Stimson's 38 North Program, and Keith Luse, Executive Director of the National Committee on North Korea (NCNK), in conversation with policy director Jonathan Corrado. For more information, please visit the link below: https://www.koreasociety.org/policy-and-corporate-programs/item/1669-north-korea-lessons-learned-and-creative-thinking

April 13, 2023 - An instant bestseller in Korea and the follow up to the international bestseller, Please Look After Mom, I Went to See My Father by Kyung-Sook Shin centers on a woman’s efforts to reconnect with her aging father, uncovering long-held family secrets. More than just the portrait of a single man, I Went to See My Father opens a window onto humankind, family, loss, and war. With this long-awaited follow-up to Please Look After Mom—flawlessly rendered by award-winning translator Anton Hur—Kyung-Sook Shin has crafted an ambitious, global, epic, and lasting novel. In a rare personal appearance in the U.S., Kyung-Sook Shin will be joined by Jenny Wang Medina to discuss her latest novel. For more information, please visit the link below: https://www.koreasociety.org/arts-culture/item/1666-kyung-sook-shin-with-jenny-wang-medina

April 13, 2023 - Join us for a discussion about North Korea’s cyber threat, with Jean Lee, co-host of the BBC’s Lazarus Heist podcast and public policy fellow with the Wilson Center, and cybersecurity expert Michael Barnhart, who is currently with the threat intelligence firm Mandiant and was formerly Cyber Team Lead at the US Senate and signals intelligence collector in the intelligence community. The discussion is moderated by policy director Jonathan Corrado. For more information, please visit the link below: https://www.koreasociety.org/policy-and-corporate-programs/item/1662-the-north-korean-cyber-threat

April 11, 2023 - A novel about a woman tossed overboard by heartbreak and loss, who has to find her way back to stable shores with the help of a giant Pacific octopus. Sea Change is an "absolutely stunning debut" novel —Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face—by Gina Chung. Ro is stuck. She’s just entered her thirties, she’s estranged from her mother, and her boyfriend has just left her to join a mission to Mars. Her days are spent dragging herself to her menial job at a mall aquarium, and her nights are spent drinking sharktinis (Mountain Dew and copious amounts of gin, plus a hint of jalapeno). With her best friend pulling away to focus on her upcoming wedding, Ro’s only companion is Dolores, a giant Pacific octopus who also happens to be Ro's last remaining link to her father, a marine biologist who disappeared while on an expedition when Ro was a teenager. When Dolores is sold to a wealthy investor intent on moving her to a private aquarium, Ro finds herself on the precipice of self-destruction. Wading through memories of her youth, Ro has one last chance to come to terms with her childhood trauma, recommit to those around her, and find her place in an ever-changing world. In a conversation with Frances Cha, Gina Chung talks about her debut novel. For more information, please visit the link below: https://www.koreasociety.org/arts-culture/item/1665-gina-chung-sea-change

Recorded March 3, 2023 - Join us for a conversation with Dr. John Delury, Professor of Chinese Studies at Yonsei University, on his new book, Agents of Subversion: The Fate of John T. Downey and the CIA's Covert War in China. This roundtable and pre-recorded video explores a Korean War era mission in China that went wrong, resulting in the 20-year imprisonment of an American operative named John T. Downey. "Agents of Subversion is an innovative work of transnational history, and it demonstrates both how the Chinese Communist regime used the fear of special agents to tighten its grip on society and why intellectuals in Cold War America presciently worried that subversion abroad could lead to repression at home." This program is moderated by Korea Society president & CEO Thomas Byrne. For more information, please visit the link below: https://www.koreasociety.org/policy-and-corporate-programs/item/1656-agents-of-subversion-with-professor-john-delury

February 16, 2023 - Join this discussion with Dr. Henry W. Brands, Professor and Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, about his book The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War. The book explores the tensions between President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur as the Korean War escalates, threatening to boil over into another World War. This discussion is part of a collection of programs that mark the 70th anniversary of The Korean War Armistice Agreement and the signing of the U.S.-ROK Alliance. Professor Brands joins policy director Jonathan Corrado in conversation. For more information, please visit the link below: https://www.koreasociety.org/policy-and-corporate-programs/item/1651-the-general-vs-the-president-macarthur-and-truman-at-the-brink-of-nuclear-war

February 9, 2023 - Join our discussion about the consequences of Korea’s rapid economic development on the family unit and society at large, featuring Seoul National University sociology Professor Chang Kyung-Sup. This program is a collaboration with the Policy Department and the Education Department. For more information, please visit the link below: https://www.koreasociety.org/policy-and-corporate-programs/item/1631-consequences-of-korea-s-compressed-modernity