2014 JoongAng Ilbo-CSIS Forum set for May 27

From left: John Hamre, Joshua Bolten, Richard Armitage, Kurt Campbell and Victor Cha

The fourth JoongAng Ilbo-CSIS Forum will launch May 27 at the Westin Chosun Hotel in central Seoul and will serve as an opportunity for leading experts in foreign affairs and security to evaluate pressing issues related to the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Speakers at this year’s event include former White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten; John Hamre, the president and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Richard Armitage, president of Armitage International; and Kurt Campbell, former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs and the chairman and CEO of The Asia Group.

A sense of urgency in the Korean Peninsula region has slowly been building as a result of Pyongyang’s firing of ballistic missiles and rockets into the eastern sea and its decision to conduct a live-fire drill near the Northern Limit Line, the disputed western maritime border between the two Koreas. Meanwhile, Japan is heading down a more militaristic path, pushing to lift a ban on its rights to collective self-defense amid rising tensions between the United States and China over the South China Sea and dominance in Asia. U.S. and Korean experts are expected to analyze trends in the region and offer insight on other topics, such as the U.S. pivot to Asia, China’s North Korea policy and the future of Japan-Korea relations.

The theme of this year’s event will be “Whither Northeast Asia? Security, Strategy and Politics.”

Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Date: Tuesday, May 27

Place: The Grand Ballroom at the Westin Chosun Hotel

U.S. participants: John Hamre, president and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Joshua Bolten, former White House chief of staff; Richard Armitage, president of Armitage International; Kurt Campbell, former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs; J. Stapleton Roy, former U.S. ambassador to China, Michael Green, CSIS senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair; and Victor Cha, CSIS Korea Chair

Korean participants: Representative Kil Jeong-woo of the Saenuri Party; Kim Young-hie, JoongAng Ilbo senior columnist; Moon Chung-in, political science professor at Yonsei University; Park Cheol-hee, international studies professor at Seoul National University; Shin Kak-soo, former Korean ambassador to Japan; Yoon Young-kwan, former minister of foreign affairs; Chun Yung-woo, former Blue House national security adviser; and Choi Young-jin, former Korean ambassador to the United States

Contact: globalaffairs@joongang.co.kr