Greetings Friends & Colleagues!

Back from the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul and grateful for the opportunity to moderate three panels, (relieved I did not muck them up!!) including the future of APEC with John Mearsheimer and Robin Niblett, lessons from the war with Ukrainian FM Dmytro Kuleba, and the new U.S.-ROK relationship with FKI Chairman Roy Ryu and U.S. Ambassador to Korea Joseph Yun. Great to see the talented Maeil Business Daily team and participate in an extremely well-run conference.

While in Seoul, I was able to build on the conversation about effective use of developmental aid that Graham Nelson and I have been engaging in over the past few months with an opinion piece published in Hankyung. There remains an opportunity for Korea to maximize the impact of the aid budget with support for organizations that provide a return on investment such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) that procure vaccines from Korea's pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

South Korea has been in the news of late beginning with the June 3rd election of President Lee Jae-myung which I wrote about for CSDS and the Maeil Business Newspaper. Since then trade negotiations and the Trump-Lee Summit took center stage, and most recently the Georgia ICE raid which put into question implications of the limits on E-4 visas as I mentioned in a piece last year for CSIS.

I look forward to returning to Seoul in late October for a seminar on North Korea hosted by the Ministry of Unification. Meanwhile, keeping busy and will speak at a KEI event on U.S.-ROK relations at the University of Michigan, contribute to a discussion on Energy and Fiscal Policy at George Washington University, attend the Baker Institute’s Annual Energy Summit in Houston, Texas, and join friends and colleagues at the Korea Society’s Annual Dinner in New York City.

Let me know if you are in Seoul, D.C., Ann Arbor, Houston, Berkeley or NYC.  Hope the stars align and we can gather for a drink!

Henry
seekonk.co