REGISTER
Join the National Committee on North Korea and the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) for an engaging webinar surrounding the book Beyond the Armistice: Efforts for Peace on the Korean Peninsula. Published by CPCS, this anthology is a "compelling compilation of interviews with individuals from diverse countries, sectors, and generations—each deeply committed to advocating for peace on the Korean Peninsula." Be part of a thought-provoking conversation with Allison Lee of CPCS, Glyn Ford of Track 2 Asia, and Keith Luse of NCNK as they provide an in-depth exploration of the many peacebuilding initiatives focused on the Peninsula.
About the Speakers
Alison Lee serves as the North East Asia Peace Program Director at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS). With the support of the Peace Process Team, she designs and facilitates platforms that convene stakeholders of the Korean peace process across Asia to exchange conversations and analysis for practical strategy towards a lasting peace on the peninsula.
Previously, Alison worked as the partnership development officer at a youth & family NGO, and a news media analyst at a leading digital solution company in Hong Kong. These experiences helped enrich her perspectives of young-generation civil society movements in Asia. She is now studying an MA program in Applied Conflict Transformation Studies at the Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia.
Alison graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a BSocSci, specialised in international politics and China studies. She speaks English, Mandarin, and Cantonese, and is a learner of Korean.
In over 25 years in the European Parliament (EP), Glyn Ford developed an unrivaled expertise on East Asia as a Member of the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committees. This interest started even before his election to the EP, when he was a visiting Professor in ‘Science and Technology Policy’ at Tokyo University. Immediately after his Japanese experience, he was elected at the EP and became a member of the Delegation for Relations with Japan. His interest expanded over the years to South Korea (he was the Rapporteur on EU-Korea Science and Technology Agreement), China, and the rest of East Asia (he was rapporteur on the EU-ASEAN FTA). He was appointed by the Council of Ministers as the EU’s Chief Election Observer in Indonesia (2004) and Aceh (2006/7).
When he left the European Parliament in 2009, Glyn Ford founded the consulting company Polint, which he still leads today. In parallel, he continued his political and academic engagement with the DPRK and the East Asian region. These activities, which have always been conducted on a ‘non-profit’ basis, are now carried out in the framework of Track2Asia.
Thanks to his engagement with the DPRK, he is now considered one of the most pre-eminent European experts on the Korean peninsula in particular, and East Asia in general. A sample of this expertise can be seen in his books North Korea on the Brink (Pluto Press,2008 and later translated into Japanese and Korean) and Talking to North Korea (Pluto Press,2018). Glyn Ford is also a Board Member of the North East Asia Economic Forum (NEAEF) and the Pacific Century Institute (PCI), as well as one of the European co-organisers of a number of Korean Global Forum (KGF) events.
His most recent publication, Picturing the DPRK (2023), published by Pacific Century Institute and Spokesman, is a collection of images taken during his nearly 50 visits to North Korea over the past 25 years.
Keith Luse is the Executive Director of the National Committee on North Korea. Previously, Luse was the Senior East Asia Policy Advisor for Chairman and later Ranking Member Senator Richard G. Lugar at the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2003 until 2013. Luse also served as Staff Director for Mr. Lugar at the Senate Agriculture Committee from 1999 through 2002, where the Senator also served as Chairman and later Ranking Member. While at the Senate Agriculture Committee, Luse made the first of eventually five trips to North Korea.
In addition to assisting Senator Lugar at the Foreign Relations Committee on legislative initiatives, Luse directed or participated in several oversight projects and investigations. They included the integrity of the U.S. - funded humanitarian assistance distribution process inside North Korea; the murder of Americans in Papua, Indonesia; corruption and transparency challenges at The Asia Development Bank and The World Bank, and an evaluation of the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance to countries in East Asia with an emphasis on Cambodia and Indonesia.
Luse’s Bachelor of Arts degree in political science is from Indiana University. His graduate certificate in public management and additional graduate studies were obtained at Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis.