Friday, June 12, 2015

South Korea Deepens Its Think Tank Game


The Wilson Center has just announced the creation of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy, being support by Hyundai Motor Co. and the Korea Foundation.

Here is more:
The Korea Center will provide a coherent, long-term platform for improving historical understanding of Korea and frame the public policy debate on the Korean peninsula in the United States and beyond. The Hyundai Motor Company Center for Korean History and Public Policy is part of the History and Public Policy Program (HAPP) directed by Dr. Christian Ostermann.

Hyundai reportedly donated $2 million for the new center and the Korea Foundation donated $1 million.

Pictures of the launch can be found here.

Other US think tanks have strong ties to the Koreans.  For example, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has an International Affairs Fellowship in South Korea, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has a Korea Chair.

Here is an informal list of Korea-related think tanks.

Flashback: Remember when South Korean intelligence was reportedly giving the Heritage Foundations millions of dollars back in the 1980s?