Korea-OceaniaNextGenerationPolicyExpertsNetwork

SeoulStudyTour

24-30July2016

JointlyorganisedbyAustralianInstituteofInternationalAffairsandthe

KoreaFoundation

OutcomesReport

ThisreportsummarisesthemainoutcomesoftheKorea-OceaniaNextGenerationPolicyExpertsNetworkStudyTourheldinSeoulduringthe24thto30thJuly2016.TheeventwasjointlyorganisedbytheKoreaFoundationandtheAustralianInstituteofInternationalAffairs.ThestudytourbroughttogetherAustralianacademicsandyoungprofessionalswithdemonstratedinterestandexpertiseininternationalaffairs.Theobjectiveofthestudytourwastoprovideparticipantswithopportunitiestodeepentheirunderstandingofandencouragepolicy-orientedresearchontheEastAsianregionoveraseriesofdialoguesandnetworkingevents.ThedialoguescoveredtopicssuchasKorea’sdefencepolicy,unificationintheKoreanpeninsula,NorthKoreandefectorsandinter-Korearelationships.Highlightsofthestudytourincluded:

• Twelveparticipants(uponinvitation)includingacademicandpoliticalanalysts,universityprofessorsandotheracademics.

• Networkingwithsignificantgroupsincludingtwoformerambassadors,leadingpolicymakers,academicsandinternationaljournalistsbasedinKorea.

• ActiveparticipationandengagementwithseniorpolicyexpertsattheKoreaFoundationNextGenerationPolicyExpertsAlumniDialogue.

• AroundtablediscussionwiththeAustralianAmbassadortotheRepublicofKoreaattheAustralianEmbassyinSeoul.

• DiscussionofengagingtopicsincludingKorea’sforeignpolicy,theintegrationofNorthKoreanrefugeesandNorth-SouthunificationontheKoreanPeninsula.

• Apositiveatmospherefornetworkingandrelationship-buildingbetweenKoreanandAustralianparticipants.

Format

Thestudytourwasheldacrossoneweekbetweenthe24thand30thJuly,includingparticipants’arrivalto and departure from Seoul. It included seven dialogues and four networking events with seniorrepresentatives fromKorea’sgovernmentandcivil society.Thetouralsoconsistedofmeetingswithforeignpolicyjournalistsandafull-daydialogueonKoreanpoliticswithover40alumnirepresentativesfromtheKoreaFoundation’sNextGenerationPolicyExpertsNetworkacrosstheUSandEurope.

• Sunday24thJulyTheKoreaFoundationkindlyhostedawelcomingdinnerandorientationforallparticipants.

• Monday25thJuly

ThefirstsessionopenedwithadialoguehostedbytheKoreaInstituteforDefenseAnalyses(KIDA)onKorea’sdefencepolicyandmissiledefencesystems.Thereweretwonetworkingeventsfollowingthedialogue.ThefirstwaswiththeformerKoreanAmbassadortoAustralia,WooSangKim,whodiscussedKorea’s middle power diplomacy and Korea-Australia relations. Next, the participants joined in anetworkingeventwithProfessorHeejinLeeandProfessorJeffreyRobertsonfromYonseiUniversity.

AustraliandelegatesvisittheKoreanInstituteforDefenseAnalyses(KIDA)

• Tuesday26thJuly

ParticipantswereinvitedtoattendtheKoreaFoundationNextGenerationPolicyExpertsAlumniDialogue.AmbassadorSihyungLee,PresidentoftheKoreaFoundation,spokehiswelcomingremarkstotheevent.Seniorpolicyexpertsthenprovidedpresentationsandin-depthpaneldiscussionsontopicssuchasNorthKoreandenuclearisationandtheregionalarchitectureoftheKoreanPeninsula.MemberoftheAustraliandelegation,AssistantProfessorKaiHefromGriffithUniversity,alsoparticipatedasapanellistforthediscussion.ThedialoguewasfollowedbyworkinggroupsessionsforparticipantstosharetheirresearchinterestsaswellastheirfutureinsightsontheEastAsianregion,withoneseniorexpertassignedasamoderatorforeachgroup.

PanelistsattheKFNextGenerationPolicyExpertsAlumniDialogue

• Wednesday27thJulyThefirstdialoguewasconductedbythePresidentialCommitteeforUnificationPreparationandDrChong-wookChung,ViceChairmanofthePresidentialCommittee,examinedKorea’sunificationprocess.ParticipantsthenvisitedtheKoreaHanaFoundationwheretheyengagedinadialogueaboutNorthKoreandefectorsandtheirintegrationintotheROK.ThedelegationwasinvitedtoparticipateinaroundtablediscussionattheAustralianEmbassywiththeAustralianambassadortotheRepublicofKorea,BillPatersonPSM.Finally,participantsattendedanetworkingdinnerjoinedbyparticipantsoftheAustralianYoungPoliticalLeadersVisitKoreaprogram–NikkiBoyd,MartinGreenwood,ImogenBeynon,MitchRedford,NathanHerseyandZoeDarling.

• Thursday28thJuly

DialoguesforthedaywereheldattheMinistryofForeignAffairs.DrBeomchulShinfromtheMinistryofForeignAffairspresentedadialogueonmajorforeignpolicyissuesrelatedtotheKorea-USallianceandtherelationshipbetweenNorthandSouthKorea.ParticipantsthenjoinedanetworkingluncheonwithprominentinternationaljournalistsbasedinKorea–ChadO’Carroll,DirectorandManagingEditorofNKNewsandAlastairGale,BureauChiefKoreaoftheWallStreetJournal–whoprovidedvaluableperspectivesonKoreanissues.TheeventwasfollowedbyadialoguepresentedbySeniorResearcherJaeHyonLeefromtheAsanInstituteofPolicyStudies,whodiscussedtheASEAN-OceaniaResearchProgram.ThefinaldialogueforthestudytourfocusedonKoreanunificationpolicyandinitiativeswithMrDuHaengLee,SeniorPolicyCooperationOfficerfromtheMinistryofUnification.

• Friday29thJuly–Saturday30thJulyAtconclusionoftheweek’sproceedings,participantsweregiventheopportunitytopartakeinsignificanthistoricalandculturalactivitiesincludingatouroftheDemilitarizedZone(DMZ),UnificationBridge,theWarMemorialofKoreaandMyeong-dong.ParticipantsalsodepartedfromKoreaoverthisperiod.

VisitattheKoreaHanaFoundationtolearnaboutDPRKrefugeeintegration

Feedback

Thestudytourreceivedverypositivefeedback.ParticipantsexpressedthattheyhaddevelopedastronginterestinKoreanculture,politicsandinternationalrelationsthroughtheirparticipationintheprogram.Overall,thestudytourwasseentohaveenhancedparticipants’understandingandinterestofbothKoreaandtheEastAsianregion.Anumberofpositiveresponseswerenoted:

• “Itisfantastictohavespenttheweekwithsuchaninterestingandcollegialgroupofpeople–

justlovelytohavehadthechancetogettoknoweveryoneandtheirinterestsalittlemoredeeply–andIdolookforwardtostayingcloselyconnectedonallthingsKorea!”

• “Itwasanhonourandapleasuretoparticipate.Ihopethisisthefirstofmanysuchoccasions!

Kamsahamnida.”

• “Wasgreattomeetyouandspendaweekinthatamazingcity,learntsomuchfromyouall.”

Acknowledgements

TheAustralianInstituteofInternationalAffairswouldliketothankallparticipantsinthestudytour,particularlytheKoreanAmbassador,KoreaFoundationPresidentanddelegation,Consul-General,moderators,presentersanddiscussants.TheKorea-OceaniaNextGenerationPolicyExpertsNetworkStudyTourwasmadepossiblethroughthegeneroussupportoftheKoreaFoundation.

AustralianDelegation

MrGeoffreyEwing,PresidentofAIIAQueensland

MrRoryMacNeil,NationalOfficeOperationsManager,AIIA

AssociateProfessorKaiHe,ResearchFellow,GriffithAsiaInstitute,GriffithUniversity

DrElizabethThurbon,SeniorLecturer,SchoolofSocialSciences,UniversityofNewSouthWales

DrPichamonYeophantong,AssistantProfessor,UniversityofNewSouthWales

DrBenjaminHabib,Lecturer,LaTrobeUniversity

MrSeanJesudason,PathwaysPartnershipCoordinator,DeakinUniversity

MrDavidLang,AnalystandManagingEditor,AustralianStrategicPolicyInstitute

MrAlexanderWillox,PolicyOfficer,MigrationCouncilAustralia

DrChristopherRichardson,PhDgraduate,UniversityofSydney

DrCzeslawTubilewicz,SeniorLecturer,UniversityofAdelaide

MsCiaraO’Loughlin,TraineeLawyer,AIIAWAYoungProfessionalsNetwork