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Geopolitics and Geoeconomics

4th Trilateral Conference

Korea at Crossroads: Geopolitical Upheaval and Scientific Innovation

#Geopolitical Risks

Date & Time
2019.07.11 - 12
Speakers
YOON Young-kwan, ZHANG Yunling, CHOI Byung-il, CHUNG Jae Ho, Richard COOPER, Evan A. FEIGENBAUM, Joseph YUN, KIM Sung-han, JIA Qingguo, Gary SAMORE, KIM Heung-Kyu, KIM Byung-yeon, FAN Gaoyue, PARK In-Kook, John PARK, ZHAO Xiaozhuo, Andrew HUNTER , LEE Sook Jong

2019 Trilateral Session 1

#Geopolitical Risks

2019 Trilateral Session 2

#Geopolitical Risks

2019 Trilateral Session 3

#Geopolitical Risks

4th Trilateral_Opening Ceremony

#Geopolitical Risks

4th Trilateral_Panels

#Geopolitical Risks

4th Trilateral_Audiences

#Geopolitical Risks

Chey Institute for Advanced Studies planned the US-Korea-China Trilateral Conference with the belief that communication between the three countries critical and necessary for peace and development in Northeast Asia. It is establishing itself as a forum for track-two discussion that convenes political and economic experts from the three countries with he aim of raising public awareness of the main issues facing Northeast Asia. The Trilateral Conference started with US-China relations, North Korean nuclear issues, and trade as sub-themes. Now, it has incorporated the topic of scientific innovation and its impact on geopolitical risks in order to assess the challenges and opportunities in the region from more comprehensive perspectives.

Session and Lectures

  • This session focused on the US-China relations that are impacted by technological rivalry. Participants speculated that in order to “reconfigure” US-China relations, one needed to change both supreme leaders. A participant from China argued that there is not much room for cooperation between the US and China, apart from the North Korean nuclear issue. Another Chinese participant pointed out that the official primary concern of US national security is inter-state strategic competition.

    • YOON Young-kwan

      Seoul National University

    • ZHANG Yunling

      Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, CASS

    • CHOI Byung-il

      Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies

    • CHUNG Jae Ho

      the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy, Seoul National University

    • Richard COOPER

      Harvard University

    • Evan A. FEIGENBAUM

      Caarnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • The second session looked at the North Korean nuclear issues from the perspectives of the three countries. In particular, questions including whether working-level negotiation between the US and North Korea will eventually lead to a roadmap towards North Korean denuclearization, whether a ‘small deal’ or ‘big deal’ will be reached between the two countries, and whether trilateral cooperation would be possible amidst the US-China trade war were explored.

    • Joseph YUN

      (Former) US Department of State

    • KIM Sung-han

      GSIS, Korea University

    • JIA Qingguo

      School of International Studies, Peking University

    • Gary SAMORE

      Brandeis University

    • KIM Heung-Kyu

      Department of Political Science and Diplomacy, Ajou University

    • KIM Byung-yeon

      Seoul National University

    • FAN Gaoyue

      Sichuan University

  • During the last session, the impact of scientific innovation on geopolitical risks in Northeast Asia was addressed. A US participant raised a concern about “chronocentrism,” the belief that the era we are living in is an inflection point. Another participant emphasized that the key difference between the nuclear age and the current period is that now innovations are primarily software technologies, such as AI, cyber capabilities, rather than in hardware such as fighter jets. On the technological competition between the US and China, a Chinese participant pointed out that for over four decades the US and China have agreed on technological cooperation, creating mutual gain through joint projects, but following the landmark 2011 National Security Strategy Report, the trajectory of the US-China relations have taken malign turn, approaching a zero-sum game in terms of technological policy.

    • PARK In-Kook

      Chey Institute for Advanced Studies

    • John PARK

      Harvard University, Kennedy School

    • ZHAO Xiaozhuo

      Academy of Military Sciences, PLA

    • Andrew HUNTER

      CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies)

    • LEE Sook Jong

      Sungkyunkwan University

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