A Complicated Friendship: New Perspectives on the 70 Years of the Korean-U.S. Alliance
Event description
- Academic events
- Free
- Open to the public
Sponsored by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles
in partnership with the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies and the Asia Center at Arizona State University
The year 2023 is significant in the history of Korea and the relations between South Korea and the United States. It marks the 70th anniversary of the formal alliance between South Korea and the United States, which began when the two countries signed the Mutual Defense Treaty in 1953; the 75th anniversary of the founding of South Korea itself, established in 1948; and the 120th anniversary of the arrival of the first Korean immigrants to the United States in 1903, which launched the long and illustrious history of the Korean American community. In commemoration of these milestones, we invite you to join us for a special lecture series examining this complex history of Korean-American relations.
Although South Korea and the United States have long been allies, as with most friendships, their relationship has undergone many challenges both from within and without. Speakers will review how the alliance has been tested many times not only in terms of diplomatic, economic and military ties, but also in the perception and imagination of America among Korean elites and also the public throughout the twentieth century. In addition, speakers will also discuss the Korean-American relationship from the perspective of marginalized populations, whose voices have not often been heard previously in this history. Finally, speakers will also examine the recent influx of K-Pop and the Korean Wave in the United States and what it means not only for Korean-American relations but also for the Korean American community and Korean American identity.
This event is free and open to the public.
Light breakfast and coffee breaks will be provided.
About the speakers
Education
Ph.D. Theater and Performance Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
M.A. in Performance Studies, New York University
B.A. English Literature, Ewha W. University
Hanmee Na Kim is an Assistant Professor of History at Wheaton College. Her research interests include Americanism in Korea, Korea-U.S. diplomatic/cultural/intellectual interactions (1866-1945), and Korean students in the U.S. (1884-1960). Her work is published in Positions: Asia Critique, and she is currently working on a book manuscript on the development of Americanism in Korea.
Education
Ph.D. Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, 2014
M.A. Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 2005
B. A., International Studies, University of Chicago, 2003
Dr. Sung Eun Kim is a historian of modern Korea and the Asia-Pacific, with specialization in Korean militarism and the transnational history of the US military empire in the Asia-Pacific region post-1945. He is currently a post-doctoral fellow at George Washington University Institute for Korean Studies.
His dissertation, "Between Empire and Nation: Korean Augmentation Troops to the US Army and US Military Empire," tracks the history of KATUSA, a unit of South Korean soldiers that have been conscripted into the US Army in Korea since the Korean War (1950–present). In his work, he demonstrates how KATUSA soldiers navigated the racial, gender, and national hierarchies structuring relations between Korean and American soldiers during the Cold War, revealing the hierarchical logic of Cold War US military imperialism and the colonial nature of US–ROK relationship.
Education
Ph.D. in Modern Korean History from the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, 2023
M.A. in East Asian Regional Studies, Columbia University, 2011
B.A. in Asian Studies and Political Science, Vassar College, 2010
Sungik Yang is a political and intellectual historian of modern Korea, focusing on nationalism, historical memory, the history of democracy and the content and dissemination of political ideology in Korea. His current book project examines the discursive hegemony of fascistic nationalism, anti-Westernism and collectivism in Korea during the twentieth century, particularly after liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945. He is also interested in researching the rise and fall of Korean Cold War liberalism, the conceptual history of democracy in Korea and South Korea's regional diplomacy during the Cold War.
Education
Ph.D. History and East Asian Languages, Harvard University, 2023
A.M. Regional Studies-East Asia, Harvard University, 2017
B.A. History, Political Science, Williams College, 2013