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THE ASIA FOUNDATION IN KOREA
Highlights
Harvard Nieman Journalism Fellow Kyoungtae Kim Discusses 2017 Korean Presidential Election at Asia Foundation Headquarters in San Francisco
On March 28th at a talk at Asia Foundation headquarters in San Francisco, Kyoungtae Kim, the current Harvard Nieman Journalism Fellow from Korea, provided a wide-ranging overview of the political situation in South Korea and the regional challenges a new president faces upon taking office after the May 9 "snap election." Kyoungtae is an editor and director with the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and is in the final month of his year-long Fellowship. See more about Kyoungtae and the Fellowship he is participating in at Harvard here. In addition, some of Mr. Kim's writings published during his fellowship can be found here and here.
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellows Converge in Korea and Vietnam
From April 8 to 15, The Asia Foundation hosted the 2017 class of the Asia Foundation Development Fellows: Emerging Leadership for Asia's Future program in Seoul, Korea. Young changemakers representing 12 Asian countries, the 2017 Development Fellows participated in a customized Leadership Training Program held in Korea. The meeting was held in collaboration with the Korea Development Institute (KDI) School of Public Policy and Management, and with generous support from the Hansae Yes24 Foundation.
The Development Fellows participated in an intensive Leadership Development Workshop program with the larger objective of enhancing leadership skills and potential. The training focused on strategic thinking and decision-making, working with participants on developing critical perspectives, solving complicated problems, managing change, and introducing innovative approaches in leadership and management.
The Fellows then continued to Vietnam for an applied Workshop on Asian Development, where development challenges and innovations serve as a contextual backdrop for applying theories and concepts in international development.
Now on its fourth year, the Development Fellows program recognizes and empowers a dynamic community of rising young Asian leaders - NGO and civil society leaders, government officials and policymakers, social entrepreneurs, journalists, environmentalists, and academics - in their pursuit of creative solutions to the region's most critical development challenges. The members of the 2017 class represent Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Learn more about them here.
To learn more about the program, watch this video featuring these emerging leaders across Asia.
KDI-The Asia Foundation Manila Conference Examines Planned Urbanization and South-South Cooperation
Rapid urbanization is increasingly recognized as one of the most important development issues shaping our world today. With cities now making up half the world's population, KDI and The Asia Foundation convened a dialogue in Manila from May 11-12, 2017 bringing urban development experts, city government officials, academic scholars, and specialists from multilateral agencies based in Asia for the 16th meeting of the Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation (AADC) dialogue. The annual AADC event is an ongoing series addressing how Asian countries' engagement in development and South-South cooperation is changing the global aid landscape and the development prospects for the region.
The meeting marks the 7th year of the Foundation's partnership with the Korea Development Institute (KDI) in organizing the AADC dialogue. Focusing on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, the Manila conference examined how Asian providers are addressing the challenges of urban planning, service delivery, and sustainable cities through their cooperation programs. Manila's unique and continuous urbanization experiences set the stage for a dynamic dialogue between experts from cities in Asia facing challenges of rapid urbanization, including Manila, Cebu, Beijing, Singapore, Jakarta, New Delhi, Seoul, and Bangkok, as well as representatives from UNDP, UN-Habitat, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), who presented innovative programs aimed at addressing the challenges that cities face.
Highlights of the conference included a discussion on how China's Belt and Road Initiative, spanning across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa will increase connectivity and GDP for these regions. Other highlights centered on how public private partnerships are financing Asia's transport and infrastructure needs from Manila to Laos, and how an innovative mobile application-Safetipin developed in India to promote urban safety-is being shared with other cities in Asia.
The meeting included a site visit to Manila's Public-Private Partnership Center, during which the participants were introduced to the Duterte administration's "Build Build Build" infrastructure development program. President Duterte's strategy, which is part of the administration's economic agenda, dubbed as "Dutertenomics," hopes to address long-term issues by allocating 5.4% of the GDP to the initiative with over 60 infrastructure projects.
In previous years, AADC conferences have focused on the changing aid landscape, rising inequality and pro-poor growth, climate change mitigation and adaptation, social mobility, advancing South-South cooperation, and the role of NGOs and the private sector.
Korean Delegation Visits Laos to Learn about Human Resource Development in the Country
As part of an ongoing partnership with KDI School to implement international development cooperation capacity building projects, the Korea office led a 9-member delegation to Laos from June 3-11, 2017 for a study tour focused on "International Development Cooperation for Human Resource Development." The delegation included practitioners from the Korean government, NGO community, and academia.
During the visit, the delegation met with the KOICA Laos office, Ministry of Education and Sports. Meetings were also arranged with a variety of educational institutions in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, including higher educational programs at the National University of Laos and Souphanouvong University, and vocational training programs such as the Vientiane-Hanoi Friendship School, Northern Agriculture and Forestry College, Pakpasak Technical College, and the KOICA-funded Lao-Korea Skills Development Institute. Useful Insights were provided throughout the week by local and international experts as well as by the private sector on human resource development issues which enhanced the understanding of the efforts and challenges that stakeholders face in Laos. Participants commented at the end of the program that they had gained a comprehensive understanding of the human resource development system in the country, the challenges, as well as potential project ideas for future development cooperation between Korea and Laos.
Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Women's Business Center & Incubator
From June 6 to 10, The Asia Foundation Korea office organized a capacity-building study visit to Korea for project partners working on Mongolia's first Women's Business Center and Incubator-a three-way partnership between the City of Ulaanbaatar, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and The Asia Foundation. During their visit, the fifteen-member delegation, consisting of staff from the WBC Business Incubation Center, Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and The Asia Foundation Mongolia office, visited Korean Women Entrepreneurs Association, Gyeonggi Provincial Government, Seoul Venture Incubator, Korea Industrial Complex Corporation, Ewha Womans University Business Incubator, and Pangyo Techno Valley Industrial Complex.
Former Country Representative David Steinberg Visits Korea
On Wednesday, June 28th, former two-time country representative David Steinberg returned to Korea for a series of events including attendance at the Friends of The Asia Foundation Annual Reception where he was honored for a lifetime of service to The Asia Foundation and to the development of Korea. Having served as Korea country representative in the 1960s and again in the 1990s, Dr. Steinberg has witnessed Korea's unique development experience and the wide range of Asia Foundation programs in the areas of education, democratic reform, culture, public policy, and international relations. The visit allowed the Foundation and partners in Korea an opportunity to recognize and remember the vast and tireless contributions he has given throughout his lifetime to Korea.
The visit began with a lecture at Inha University in Incheon, where Dr. Steinberg spoke on the Foundation's work in Korea in the 1960s.
As a world-renowned specialist on Myanmar, Dr. Steinberg was invited by the Export-Import Bank of Korea to give a talk on the socio-political factors of the Myanmar economy. During his visit, he talked with the bank's vice president, Chang Young-hoon.
After speaking at the Friends of The Asia Foundation Annual Reception, Dr. Steinberg traveled with a group of TAF Korea office staff and Luce Scholars to Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery where The Asia Foundation's first Country Representative in Korea, Philip Rowe, is buried. TAF recently worked with the cemetery to erect a bio marker in front of Rowe's grave. The group took a guided tour of the cemetery to learn about other prominent individuals, who contributed to Korea's development, that are buried at Yanghwajin.
During his trip, Dr. Steinberg also visited the Korea Development Institute (KDI), where he had an interview with the KDI Museum (opening fall 2017) and gave a lecture at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. As Myanmar is one of the priority countries for Korea's ODA, and remains a country of interest for Korean development institutions, Dr. Steinberg spoke to students, including those from Myanmar, about the development experiences of both countries.
After his visit to Korea, Dr. Steinberg left for Myanmar on Tuesday, July 4th, where he had various meetings with government officials and scholars in the country.
New Publication! KDI-TAF 2015 Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation "Contemporary Asian Perspectives on South-South Cooperation"
Twenty-first century aid has diversified beyond last century's narrow parameters. Asia has become both a generator of huge development resources and an incubator for new ideas and practices. Recognizing this potential, the Korea Development Institute and Asia Foundation partnered on a new book titled Contemporary Asian Perspectives on South-South Cooperation. This volume contributes new perspectives to the international dialogue on South-South Cooperation's (SSC) historic path and the existing body of literature on the future of development cooperation. Click here for a free download of the book.
New Publication! A Partner for Change: Six Decades of The Asia Foundation in Korea
The Asia Foundation's Korea Office is pleased to announce the publication of A Partner for Change: Six Decades of The Asia Foundation in Korea. This book details more than sixty years of The Asia Foundation's presence in Korea as the country rapidly and dynamically transformed after a devastating war in the mid-twentieth century. Click here for a free download of the book.
TAF Korea Reaches Out
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On April 13th, The Asia Foundation and Aspen Institute co-hosted a reception attended by 5 members of the Korean National Assembly and a bipartisan delegation of 16 Members of the U.S. Congress visiting Korea and Japan as part of the Aspen Institute's Congressional Program. The reception provided an opportunity for the attendees to build relationships and deepen their political, economic, historical, and cultural knowledge of the two countries. See more about the Aspen Institute Congressional Program here.
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On April 14th, Hansae Yes24 Foundation held its first Asian Culture Sharing Forum at Ewha Womans University with support by The Asia Foundation. Speakers from eight countries presented their ideas and thoughts on their respective country's unique culture with emphasis on literature, visual and performance arts. In addition to Asia Foundation Vice President Nancy Yuan, who gave opening remarks, two of The Asia Foundation's Class of 2015 Development Fellows, Ruby Hembrom and Zolzaya Batkhuyag, participated in the forum as speakers.
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On the day of the Korean presidential elections in May, Asia Foundation Korea Country Representative Dylan Davis joined a tour of polling sites and a counting center organized by the National Election Commission and Association of World Election Bodies. Here is a photo blog of the day.
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On May 24, TAF Trustee and former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Kathleen Stephens and Korea Country Representative Dylan Davis discussed at The Asia Foundation New York Board meeting what lies ahead for Korea and the region under a new presidency in Korea. Davis was in New York to present the Korea office's updated strategy in the country to the TAF Board of Trustees.
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On the 30th of May, The Asia Foundation Korea office met with representatives of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) to discuss mutual cooperation in Northeast Asia. TCS is an international organization established with a vision to promote peace and common prosperity among China, Japan, and South Korea.
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On July 17th, Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Michael McDevitt, a senior fellow at the CNA Center for Strategic Studies, spoke at a discussion on maritime security issues hosted by U.S. Embassy Seoul in partnership with The Asia Foundation. The event was attended by Korean academics and think-tank experts on maritime strategy and policy.
Friends of The Asia Foundation Korea in the News and Other Updates
New Publication! 외교의 길, Han Sung-Joo
This newly-published book by Friends of The Asia Foundation Chairman Han Sung-Joo is an auto-biographical account of his life's work, from Asia Foundation grantee as a high school student to an assignment as Korea's top diplomat, and beyond. 외교의 길 is a must read for anyone interested in international relations, politics, and diplomacy in East Asia, all told from the unique perspective of one of Korea's preeminent figures.
Moon Kook-Hyun Appointed to The Asia Foundation Board of Trustees
At the May 2017 meeting in New York, The Asia Foundation Board of Trustees voted and approved the appointment of Moon Kook-Hyun (President & CEO of New Paradigm Institute; CEO of Hansoll Textile Ltd.) to the Board. During his three-year term, Mr. Moon will provide strategic guidance to the Foundation as it works to address critical development needs in Asia through its network of 18 country offices. Mr. Moon has been an environmental leader for 30+ years. He initiated "Keep Korea Green", the first company-sponsored environmental campaign in Korea in 1984, which led to the creation of mountain paths, environmental institutions, and numerous educational activities for students, newly-weds and opinion leaders in the country. His efforts on environmental protection and education have been recognized by the United Nations Environmental Program with its prestigious award: "Global 500 Roll of Honor" in 1997. Mr. Moon previously was a member of the Korean National Assembly, where he served as President of the Creative Korea Party (2007-2009). Prior to that, he served as President and CEO of Yuhan-Kimberly, Limited, a leading manufacturer and distributor of sanitary products in South Korea.
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