Pitt's Asian Studies Center to Host Symposium Nov. 16 On North Korea in the World Community

PITTSBURGH-North Korea today is the focus of some of the world's most destabilizing rhetoric. What factors have created this daunting diplomatic challenge and what policy choices exist to respond to it? Pitt's Asian Studies Center within the University Center for International Studies (UCIS) will sponsor a roundtable discussion, North Korea in the World Community, from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 16 in Room 532 Alumni Hall, 4227 Fifth Ave., Oakland. The symposium is free and open to the public, but preregistration is requested. To register, e-mail name, affiliation, and mailing address to kcarlitz@ucis.pitt.edu.

Symposium speakers include:

MODERATOR: Evelyn Rawski, Pitt professor of history and UCIS research professor, is currently researching the historical evolution of rulership in Northeast Asia by examining political and social traditions in northeast Asian dynasties, including Korea.

PANELISTS:

Bruce Cumings, Norman and Edna Freehling Professor of History, The University of Chicago

Topic: "Decoupled from History: North Korea in the 'Axis of Evil.'"

Cumings has published award-winning works on 20th-century international history, U.S.-East Asian relations, East Asian political economy, modern Korean history, and American foreign relations. His most recent book is North Korea: Another Country (New Press, 2003).

David C. Kang, associate professor of government and research director in the Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College

Topic: "Nuclear Weapons vs. Economic Reforms: Are We Focused on the Right Issue?"

Kang researches Asian international relations and business-government relations. He manages consulting projects for multinational companies in Asia through the Tuck Global Consultancy Program. He is coauthor of Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies (Columbia University Press, 2003), with Victor Cha.

Chae-jin Lee, BankAmerica Professor of Pacific Basin Studies, professor of government, and director of the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, Calif.

Topic: "The Changing Relations Between North Korea and South Korea"

The author and editor of 22 books on security and policy issues involving Korea and neighboring East Asian countries, Lee is an authority on North Korea's place in the world community. Under his leadership, the Keck Center has actively promoted research into issues arising from the rapidly changing world order. His most recent books on Korea are China and Korea: Dynamic Relations (Hoover Institution Press, 1996) and U.S. Policy Toward Korea: Continuity and Change (Johns Hopkins University Press, forthcoming).

DISCUSSANT: William W. Keller, Wesley W. Posvar Chair in Pitt's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) and director of the University's Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies

Keller studies the intersection of security, technology, and commercial issues, publishing on terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, Asian innovation, multinational corporations, internal security, the FBI, the arms trade, and international security theory and practice. His most recent book is Crisis and Innovation in Asian Technology (Cambridge University Press, 2003).

Cosponsoring the symposium are the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and Pitt's University Honors College, School of Arts and Sciences, GSPIA, and Department of Political Science. For more information, call 412-648-7371 or visit ucis.pitt.edu/asc/news/northkorea.html.

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10/31/05/tmw