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National Bureau of Asian Research – East Asia Institute Roundtable Discussion
On August 26, 2024, NBR hosted a delegation of scholars from South Korea’s East Asia Institute (EAI) for a roundtable discussion examining security challenges in the Indo-Pacific over the coming decade and opportunities for and challenges to the evolving U.S.-ROK alliance. The roundtable was held at the offices of Dorsey & Whitney in Seattle, WA, and participants included members of Seattle’s academic, business, and military communities.
Experts first discussed the security threats posed by North Korea and China to South Korea and the United States. Afterwards, experts considered the role of broader regional alliances and security frameworks, including the U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral relationship, AUKUS, and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, and how they serve to advance shared values and interests including the Free and Open Indo-Pacific concept.
Participants also engaged on a range of other topics, from the potential for South Korea to acquire its own nuclear weapons to defining success for the U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral relationship to the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East on U.S.-Asia relations.
Speakers
Toby Dalton, Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Nelson Dong, Of Counsel, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Richard J. Ellings, Co-founder, President Emeritus, and Counselor, The National Bureau of Asian Research
Bates Gill, Senior Fellow for Asian Security, The National Bureau of Asian Research
Young-sun Ha, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, East Asia Institute; Professor Emeritus, Seoul National University
Alex Soohoon Lee, Associate Research Fellow, Korea Institute for Defense Analyses
Sook Jong Lee, Senior Fellow, East Asia Institute; Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of Governance, Sungkyunkwan University
Jerome Siangco, Senior Manager, The National Bureau of Asian Research
Yul Sohn, President, East Asia Institute; Professor of International and Japanese Political Economy, Graduate School of International Studies and Underwood International College, Yonsei University
Michael Wills, President, The National Bureau of Asian Research
NBR President Michael Wills and EAI President Yul Sohn offers opening remarks.
Participants from South Korea and the United States began the roundtable with a discussion of complex crises in the Indo-Pacific and the ROK-U.S. alliance.
