April 8th, 2009
North Korea rocket launch creates tensions in the region
In the News: KoreatimesGi-Wook Shin, the director of APARC, says that North Korea's long-range rocket launch has delivered the complicated messages to the region.
April 6th, 2009
North Korea incurs enormous opportunity costs with rocket launch
In the NewsDavid Straub, Associate Director of Korean Studies Program, says "North Korea incurs enormous opportunity costs with rocket launch" in recent interviews with Korean media.
March 31st, 2009
"New Beginnings" experts offer recommendations to Obama administration for strengthening U.S.-South Korean alliance
Shorenstein APARC, FSI Stanford Press Release"New Beginnings," a nonpartisan group of former government officials and experts on U.S.- Korean relations, including Michael H. Armacost, Gi-Wook Shin, Daniel Sneider, and David Straub of FSI's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, has released policy recommendations to the Obama Administration on U.S.-South Korean relations. The election of new leaders in Seoul and Washington provides an opportunity to transform the vitally important alliance into a broader regional and global partnership. 
Audio transcript available 
paper available
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March 24th, 2009
Release of "New Beginnings" Report on U.S.-South Korean Relations: Recommendations to the Obama Administration
On the eve of President Obama's reported first meeting with President Lee Myung-bak, the "New Beginnings" policy study group will release its recommendations to the Obama administration for strengthening U.S.-South Korean relations, and a panel of New Beginnings members will discuss the report. Audio transcript available paper available
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January 26th, 2009
Future of ethnic nationalism in Korea
In the NewsGi-Wook Shin, the director of the Asia-Pacific Research Center, argues that as Korea enters globalization it needs to reform its ethnic nationalism.
January 18th, 2009
The Obama administration and U.S-ROK policy challenges
Don Keyser, 2008-09 Pantech Fellow at APARC, talks about the challenges faced by the Obama administration in U.S-ROK policy.
November 21st, 2008
Daniel C. Sneider comments on "troubling" developments in the contentious relationship between North and South Korea
In the News: New York Times on November 19, 2008South Korea's new president, Lee Myung-bak, has taken a hardline approach in his dealings with North Korea, effectively signaling the end of former president Kim Dae Jung's once-vaunted "Sunshine Policy." Relations between the two nations have disintegrated in recent months. But North Korea experts suggest the the DPRK's growing belligerence toward the South actually follows a consistent pattern that may even help the United States in future negotiations. Read more »
Sneider discusses "grand bargain" with North Korea on NPR
In the News: National Public Radio on November 21, 2008In an interview with National Public Radio, Shorenstein APARC Associate Director Daniel Sneider discussed the advantages and disadvantages of seeking a grand bargain with North Korea to end its nuclear weapons ambitions. 
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November 10th, 2008
Obama administration will give diplomacy a chance to deal with the North Korean nuclear problem
Op-ed: Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) on November 8, 2008David Straub, the acting director of Korean Studies Program, argues that Obama administration will finally give diplomacy a chance to deal with the North Korean nuclear problem. He stresses that Senator Obama understands the difficulties of dealing with North Korea and will proceed carefully. If North Korea does not respond to this more nuanced American approach, he concludes, the international community is likely to be more supportive of U.S. efforts to constrain North Korean behavior.
November 5th, 2008
Trilateral relations of U.S. and two Koreas under new Obama administration
Op-ed: Dong-A Ilbo on November 6, 2008"With the current affairs such as the financial crisis and the Iraq War," Gi-Wook Shin, the director of Shorenstein APARC, says "the new Obama administration may not have the North Korea issues on its priority list for a while. Lee Myung-bak administration, meanwhile, is urged to revisit the workable policies of the past as well as to initiate the pragmatic diplomacy towards the collaboration between South Korea and the U.S."
November 3rd, 2008
Divided memories and reconciliation: history text books and war
In the News: Yonhap News, Korea on September 30, 2008An international conference on "Divided Memories and Reconciliation: History Text Books and War" was held on September 29, at Northeast Asia History Foundation in Korea. The first part of Divided Memories Project, a three-year joint project of the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Northeast Asia History Foundation, is to study and analyze how high school history text books in Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan and US describe the violent history between the 1931 Manchurian Incident to the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, as the textbooks serve as the master narrative that composes the historical memory of a nation. Read more »
October 21st, 2008
U.S. Policy in Korea after the elections
Op-ed: Newsweek Korea on October 8, 2008Will the 2008 election bring dramatic change in U.S. Korea policy? Daniel Sneider, the associate director of research at APARC says "There are important differences of emphasis in the approaches of both candidates, but the bottom line is that both men are likely to pick up where President George W. Bush leaves off." Read more »
September 26th, 2008
Straub calls for oral history project on modern Korea
David Straub, associate director of the Korean Studies Program at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, has proposed an oral history project to flesh out the story of U.S-Korean relations. "While books may last forever, one 'non-renewable' source of information and wisdom is the oral history of our forerunners," says Straub. " When our elders and predecessors pass away, we bitterly regret that we did not ask them more about their experiences and insights." Read more »
September 15th, 2008
Gi-Wook Shin talks about possible scenarios for succession of power in North Korea
In the News: New York Times on September 10, 2008Shorenstein APARC director Gi-Wook Shin offered his analysis of the possible scenarios for succession of power in North Korea in an interview with the New York Times. Shin told The Times that he thought the Kim dynasty would continue to play a role, even if symbolic in the structure, of power in North Korea. "My guess is like this: they will keep the Kim family as a social and political institution like the emperor system in Japan, offering symbolic and moral power for North Koreans, but are likely to establish a collective leadership system in which the military will play a key role. We may, then, witness some political instability in the North."
September 4th, 2008
North Korea suspends dismantling of nuclear facilities
In the News: Kansas City Star on September 4, 2008Pyongyang suspends its dismantling plans. Is North Korea hoping to push the Bush administration into reconsidering its verification policies or "playing for time in hopes of winning a better deal from" the next administration? Shorenstein APARC's associate director for research, Daniel Sneider, suggests they could be doing both.
August 4th, 2008
In the case of Dokdo: A lesson learned
Op-ed: Joong Ang Daily on August 4, 2008Shorenstein APARC director Gi-Wook Shin and Korean Studies associate director David Straub point out the importance of building long-term strategies by top foreign policy experts in the international community.
August 1st, 2008
Korea needs low-key, long-term approach to Dokdo/Takeshima controversy, says Straub
Op-ed: The Nelson Report on July 31, 2008Korean Studies Program associate director David Straub argued in the Nelson Report, a top Washington, D.C. policy newsletter, that Korea needs to take a strategic approach toward the controversy with Japan over the Dokdo Islets ("Takeshima" in Japanese). Widely reported in Korea, Straub's message urged Korea to base its policy on the fact that it has effective control of the islets. Read more »
July 23rd, 2008
Korean Studies Program welcomes visiting fellows and scholars for 2008-2009 academic year
AnnouncementKorean Studies Program at Asia-Pacific Research Center welcomes Pantech Fellow, Koret Fellow, POSCO NGO Fellows, and visiting scholars from diverse backgrounds and experiences for 2008-2009 academic year. Read more »
July 18th, 2008
Besieged South Korean president needs to make a fresh start
Op-ed: Korea Times on July 17, 2008Shorenstein APARC director Gi-Wook Shin says that President Lee still has time to recover from the diplomatic missteps that have characterized his first months in office. He urges Lee to focus his U.S. policy on establishing a strong relationship with the incoming American president. Article in Korean. Read more »
July 15th, 2008
Pyongyang expected to sign Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. Is membership in the East Asia Summit next?
KSP, SEAF In the News: Australia Broadcasting Corporation on July 15, 2008South East Asia Forum Director, Donald Emmerson discusses what impact, if any, there will b e on US-North Korean relations and ASEAN-North Korean relations once Pyongyang signs the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation at next week's Southeast Asian regional security meeting in Singapore. Read more »
July 3rd, 2008
In wake of Yongbyon explosion, Sneider is still critical of deal with Pyongyang
In the NewsCenter's Associate Director for Research Daniel Sneider and former Pantech fellow Scott Snyder both criticize the agreement made with Kim Jong Il's government. "As always with North Korea, it's disappointing and frustrating" says Snyder.
June 25th, 2008
South Korean President Lee's first 100 days have seen little movement towards narrowing the divide between Korea's left and right, says Center's Director, Gi-Wook Shin
In the News: Korea Times on June 25, 2008In looking back at President Lee's first 100 days, Gi-Wook Shin and a former Pantech Fellow, John Feffer, assess the issues in Korea today. "With a big margin in his victory, President Lee thought and misunderstood that he had a mandate to do whatever he wanted to do and that backfired, " says Shin. Read more »
May 28th, 2008
McCain's proposed North Korea policy is repeat of Bush's failed policy, says Sneider
In the News: Slate.com on May 28, 2008"The policy that John McCain proposes is the policy that George W. Bush pursued--and that policy failed," says Shorenstein APARC's associate director for research Daniel Sneider tells Slate magazine in an interview. Read more »
May 15th, 2008
New Beginnings: In the U.S.- South Korean Alliance
AnnouncementNew Beginnings, a nonpartisan policy study group of former senior U.S. officials and other experts on Korea, will discuss the results of President Lee's visit and the prospects for forging a real partnership with South Korea at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco on June 3. Audio transcript available
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May 14th, 2008
POSCO NGO Fellowship Committee admitted 10 applicants for 2008 Fellowship Program
AnnouncementTen 2008 POSCO NGO Fellows were selected by the Fellowship admission committee during the second POSCO NGO Fellowship Conference held on May 1 and 2 at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Read more »
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