Breakfast available at 8:30AM
Discussion begins at 9:00AM

2023 marked a dramatic rapprochement between South Korea and Japan. Despite shared challenges of regional security and economic growth, relations between the two countries have been marred by disputes and historic grievances. However, through leadership and diplomacy of South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, relations between the two countries have seen a marked improvement. The two leaders held a series of meetings throughout the year, including a historic U.S.-Japan-Korea trilateral summit hosted by President Joe Biden in Camp David in April 2023. 

Both countries are U.S. allies, and the positive developments in relations between the two countries are welcome news to the U.S., especially given common challenges in the region — namely China and North Korea. Still, many issues remain as the improvement and deterioration of relations between the two countries being described as cyclical. Can the current rapprochement endure and what’s next for the relationship? 

Professor Junya Nishino specializes in the bilateral relations between the two countries and has served in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs covering the Korean peninsula. He will share his outlook on Japan-South Korea relations in 2024 and beyond, and examine the possibilities and challenges of the bilateral and trilateral collaboration, and its impact on policies toward North Korea and China. Joining him will be Asia Society Policy Institute Vice President Daniel Russel, offering his views on these developments and the importance of the trilateral cooperation for security and peace in Asia.

Speakers

Dr. Junya Nishino is Professor of International Relations and Contemporary Korean Politics, Director of the Center for Contemporary Korean Studies, and Director of the Institute of East Asian Studies at Keio University. His expertise is in international relations of East Asia, contemporary Korean politics, Japan-Korea relations, and Inter-Korean relations. He was a Japan Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2012-2013), Visiting Scholar at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at George Washington University (2012-2013), and Exchange Scholar at the Harvard-Yeching Institute of Harvard University. In government, he served as Special Analyst on the Korean Peninsula in the Intelligence and Analysis Service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006-2007), and as Special Research Staff in the Division of Political Affairs in the Japanese Embassy in Seoul (2002-2004).

Daniel Russel is Vice President for International Security and Diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI). Previously he served as a Diplomat in Residence and Senior Fellow with ASPI for a one year term. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service at the U.S. Department of State, he most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary on July 12, 2013, Mr. Russel served at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for Asian Affairs. During his tenure there, he helped formulate President Obama’s strategic rebalance to the Asia Pacific region, including efforts to strengthen alliances, deepen U.S. engagement with multilateral organizations, and expand cooperation with emerging powers in the region. Among many roles in the U.S. government, he served as Director of the Office of Japanese Affairs and had assignments as U.S. Consul General in Osaka-Kobe, Japan (2005-2008); Political Section Unit Chief at U.S. Embassy Seoul, Republic of Korea (1992-95); Vice Consul in Osaka and Branch Office Manager in Nagoya, Japan (1987-89); and Assistant to the Ambassador to Japan, former Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (1985-87). In 1996, he was awarded the State Department's Una Chapman Cox Fellowship sabbatical and authored America’s Place in the World.

 This program is part of Asia Society’s Global Year of Japan – a season of multidisciplinary programming dedicated to Japan, presented across Asia Society’s 16 centers in the United States, Asia and Europe.

For more information, please visit https://asiasociety.org/year-japan.

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