Event Details

As The Economist reported back in March about the delicate balancing act that President Yoon Suk-yeol must walk between China and the United States, "South Korea sends a quarter of its exports to China, making it vulnerable to coercion should its more forceful commitment to its Western partners irritate the government in Beijing."


Indeed, South Koreans remember with a flinch the trade retaliation it suffered from China when a US THAAD missile defence system was deployed here in 2017, the 25th anniversary of the two nations' normalising diplomatic relations.


Nevertheless, China remains South Korea's number one trading partner, having surpassed the United States in the mid-2000s. But trade ties continue to fray from time to time due to Seoul's military alliance with Washington, as well as other issues such as accusations of cultural appropriation, abuse of Korea's national health insurance system by relatives of Chinese labourers, illegal fishing, "theft" of Olympic medals, diplomatic bullying, and industrial espionage.


At this event we bring together experts from academia and business to discuss relations between the Republic of Korea and the People's Republic of China, and what their improvement or worsening could mean for businesses.

Agenda

7:30 AM - 7:45 AM
Registration and Networking
7:45 AM - 8:00 AM
Breakfast
8:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Discussion
9:15 AM - 9:30 AM
Networking (optional)

Venue

Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, ARA I (6FL/Event floor)

97, Saemunan-ro, Jongno-gu,
Seoul, Korea (South)

If you have any questions please contact EICN North Asia

Contact Organizer

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Speakers

  • Sukhee Han (Professor and Associate Dean, Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University)

    Sukhee Han

    Professor and Associate Dean, Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University

    Sukhee Han is currently a Professor of Chinese Studies at the Graduate School of International Studies, Yonsei University. He served Korea’s Consul General in Shanghai for two years between 2015 and 2017. He was a member of the Korea’s Envoy to China in January 2013, which was dispatched by Korea’s then President-elect, Part Geun-hye. In China, he taught at the School of Government, Peking University for two years and worked as a visiting scholar at the Institute for Asia–Pacific Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). He completed both undergraduate and MA programs at the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy, Yonsei University. He continued his M.A.L.D. and Ph.D. degree programs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Professor Han’s main research interests are Sino–American relations, Sino–Korean relations, Sino–North Korean relations, and China’s elite politics.

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  • Hanjin Park (Head of the Center for Economic Observation of Global China at KOTRA Global Academy)

    Hanjin Park

    Head of the Center for Economic Observation of Global China at KOTRA Global Academy

    Prof. Park Hanjin is Head of the Center for Economic Observation of Global China at the KOTRA Global Academy, and visiting professor in the Department of Chinese Foreign Affairs and Commerce at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS).

    Before entering academia, he was the former head of Greater China Headquarters for KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency) in Beijing and obtained his PhD in Business Management from Fudan University in Shanghai.

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  • Seokyoung Choi (Senior Advisor at Lee&Ko)

    Seokyoung Choi

    Senior Advisor at Lee&Ko

    Seokyoung Choi is retired career diplomat. He is Senior advisor, Lee&Ko(2016-present). He worked as Ambassador for Economy and Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs(2020-21). He served as Ambassador to UN and WTO in Geneva(2012-15), deputy Minister for Trade, MOFAT(2010-12) and Economic Minister, Korean Embassy in D.C.(2006-09).

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  • Jacco Zwetsloot (Network Moderator, Seoul at Economist Intelligence Corporate Network)

    Jacco Zwetsloot

    Network Moderator, Seoul at Economist Intelligence Corporate Network

    Jacco Zwetsloot has lived in Korea for 20 of the last 25 years, with a broad range of work experience in the communication, legal, tourism, training and broadcasting sectors. He has worked as an English teacher, a tour guide for the US military, a regular radio show guest, and a translator of North Korean propaganda. Currently, Jacco works as a content creator for a communications consultancy Insight Communications Consultants, hosts a weekly podcast about North Korea, moderates panel discussions, writes a monthly Korean newspaper column and still leads occasional lunchtime walking tours in downtown Seoul for the Royal Asiatic Society Business & Culture Club. Jacco holds a Master of Arts degree in Korean Studies from Leiden University, a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from Monash University and a separate Bachelor of Arts in Modern European Studies and German Language from the University of Melbourne.

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