Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College | The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs

Regional Security Challenges

Korea Initiative

This is a major program to enhance the teaching of Korea-related subjects, including language, and security issues at Georgia Tech. The goals of the program include the following:

• enhance the current Northeast Asia program of The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs with:

  • Korean Language classes in the School of Modern Languages

  • classes in Korean security issues, culture, history, and economics

• reach out to the second and third generation Korean-American population in the Southeastern United States to provide opportunity to learn about their special relationship with the United States and the significance of Korea on the world stage

• support Korean Security Studies within The Sam Nunn School

• provide professional mid-career education and training to U.S. government graduate students in Northeast Asian Security Studies

The Korea Initiative ensures regional pre-eminence of Georgia Tech as a center for Northeast Asian security studies and security studies generally.

Korea Speaker Series and Conferences

Funded generoU.S.ly by the Korea Foundation, a lecture series and conference are offered during alternate years, respectively. Speakers have included General Ray Davis; General William Livsey; Ambassador Lee Ho-jin, South Korean Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations; Ambassador Charles Kartman, executive director of KEDO, the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization; Ms. Merrily Baird, security analyst and expert on Kim Jong-il; Professor John Endicott of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs; Ambassador Charles L. (Jack) Pritchard, Office of the Envoy for Negotiations with the DPRK and U.S. Representative to KEDO; Ambassador Han Sung Joo, South Korean Ambassador to the U.S.; Ambassador Thomas Hubbard, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea; General Kim Jae Chang; Dr. William Brown, economist with the U.S. Department of Commerce; Dr. Balbina Hwang of the Heritage Foundation.

The 2006 Conference theme was “Korea: Challenges for the 21st Century”. Presenters included Dr. Kim Hak Joon of Dong a Ilbo newspaper; Ambassador Marion Creekmore who accompanied President Carter to Pyongyang in 1994; Dr. Kongdong Katy Oh of the Institute for Defense Analyses; Mr. Cho Hyun, Korean Ambassador to the United Nations; journalist Don Kirk; and Dr. Ralph Hassig of the University of Maryland University College.

The 2007-2008 Lecture Series, focU.S.ing on the Korean elections and their impact on policy, has featured Professors Taehyun Kim, Nae Young Lee and Victor Cha.

CISTP has also sponsored several North Korean diplomats to visit the Georgia Tech campU.S. for Track II (informal) discU.S.sions. Most recently, Deputy U.N. Ambassador Kim Myonggil met with students and faculty during informative roundtable discU.S.sions.

Community Outreach

Educating the greater Atlanta community on Korean affairs is another aspect of the Korea Initiative. Faculty and staff of CISTP have been active members of the Korea America Friendship Society and the Korea Southeast U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Both groups have co-sponsored Korea Initiative programs. The Korean American Committee (KAC), an organization of young professionals, has also co-sponsored events and speakers with CISTP.

CISTP has provided experts on Korea to speak at the International HoU.S.e, a residential dorm and international cultural program on the Georgia Tech campU.S..

Limited Nuclear Weapon Free Zone for Northeast Asia (LNWFZ-NEA)

Founded in 1991, this program seeks Track II, informal diplomatic answers to military, security, and economic problems in Northeast Asia and works on proposals to ensure that the Korean peninsula is nuclear-weapons free. Participating countries are China, Japan, Korea (South and North), Mongolia, RU.S.sia, and the United States with Finland, France, and Argentina as observers. In 2005, both Dr. John Endicott, founder of the program, and the LNWFZ-NEA were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some photos from the International HoU.S.e...