The division of the Korean Peninsula and the devastating war that followed displaced and separated millions of families. Even after 70 years, family separation remains as one of the most emotional and tragic legacies of the Korean War.With tight restrictions on foreign travel and communication in North Korea, separated families have limited ways to find and contact their families in the North. The sporadic government-sponsored reunions only occur when the political climate is in their favor. Even then, thousands of families, including the member of Korean diaspora in the United States, do not get to participate.
Please the Korea Economic Institute for a panel discussion on divided families in both South Korea and the United States with Ms. Soojin Park and Mr. Paul Lee. The panel will be moderated by Ambassador Robert King, former U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights.This event will be livestreamed on Zoom with an interactive Q&A session.
Register here to receive the webinar link on the day of the event: https://share.hsforms.com/17F-TSCJ4SMCRbY4aasTT2w2ztzy
Speakers
Ambassador Robert King is currently a Non-Resident Fellow at the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) and a Senior Advisor to the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Prior to joining KEI, he was the Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues following confirmation by the United States Senate in November 2009. Ambassador King worked as the leading U.S. official on human rights and humanitarian affairs for North Korea. Prior to his appointment, he worked on Capitol Hill for 25 years. He was concurrently Staff Director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U. S. House of Representatives (2007-2008), Democratic Staff Director of the Committee (2001-2007), and had held various professional staff positions on the Committee since 1993. He has authored five books and more than 40 articles on international relations. Ambassador King holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Paul Kyumin Lee is a Program Assistant for Youth Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, and previously worked in the China and North Korea program at USIP. Before joining USIP, Mr. Lee worked in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow. Outside of work, Mr. Lee volunteers as the President of Divided Families USA, an NGO that advocates for a formal mechanism for Korean Americans to reunite with their relatives in North Korea, and co-produces the Divided Families Podcast, a platform for connecting stories of family separation. Mr. Lee recently published an issue brief on the U.S.-North Korea Divided Families on the National Committee on North Korea website. He graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s in political science and speaks Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, and Spanish.
Soojin Park is a Senior Public Policy Fellow in residence at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s History and Public Policy Program and Asia Program. Ms. Park served as Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification in the Korean government from 2011 to 2016. During her tenure, she attended numerous inter-Korean talks to resume operations at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, as well as reunions of the separated families in the North’s Mount Geumgang. Prior to her post in civil service, Ms. Park was a journalist and host to “Diplomacy Lounge” at Arirang TV, Korea’s first English show focusing on the country’s diplomatic front where she interviewed many visiting heads of state from around the world. She has a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Yonsei University in Korea and a master’s degree in Communication with emphasis on Public Affairs & Issue Management from Purdue University.