Why Less Inequality Benefits All

Mr. Michael Foerster, OECD Social Policy Analyst was invited as special lecturer at GSIS on July 3, 2015.  He gave special lecture on 「In it together:  Why Less Inequality Benefits All」.  He mentioned that today, in OECD countries, the richest 10% of the population earn 9.6 times the income of the poorest 10% and in several emerging economies, particularly in Latin America, income inequality has narrowed, but income gaps remain generally higher than in OECD countries.  He also mentioned that higher inequality drags down economic growth and harms opportunities.  Temporary and part-time work and self-employment now account for about a third of total employment in OECD countries. He said high wealth concentration limits investment opportunities. and wealth is much more concentrated than income:  on average, the 10% of wealthiest households hold half of total wealth, the next 50% hold almost the other half, while the 40% least wealthy own little over 3 %.   

2015-07-03

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Campus Asia Final Presentation Day

June 12, 2015 was the day for CAMPUS ASIA Final Presentation.  The participants of CAMPUS ASIA Program had a memorable event together. CAMPUS ASIA Program is the program that motivates active cooperation and exchanges among three Asian countries, Korea, Japan, and China. Thus, participants of the program not only presented Korean traditional dances but also gave presentations on the topics, "Post Olympic Depression Syndrome", "Aging Society" and "Death Penalty", comparing three countries. The lively debate was followed by questions from the floor. A group which led active discussions over interesting but controversial issue, "Death penalty", was awarded.  

2015-06-16

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The ISSCO (Int. Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas) Conference

The ISSCO (International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas) Conference took place in GSIS, Seoul National University from May 28th to May 30th. ISSCO is the first and only international scholarly organization for the advancement of research on Chinese overseas. It is composed of scholars actively engaged in research and teaching on Chinese overseas in countries throughout the world. At the Seoul ISSCO Conference, more than 100 scholars from mainland China, U.S.A, Canada, Taiwan and other different countries participated to present different subjects related to Chinese overseas.  

2015-06-01

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Africa, A mirror of Ourselves? : A Critical Understanding of African Identity

 The main purpose of the seminar, was to share the critical thoughts about our fixed ideas on Africa.  First, we talked about the prejudice we have about Africa’s Environment, including geographical features of Africa, and how it affects the human society.  Secondly, we discussed about our biased thoughts about Africans and their cultures.  We talked about the clues on why Africans are the origins of mankind.  The Discussion was continued by talking about its identity, including its culture, language, and religion.  At last, we had discussion about fixed ideas we had on Africa’s history, civilization, and explained about the view ancient Greek, Middle Ages of Europe, Middle East people had on Africa.  The discussion was continued on history of slave trade, histories of each countries within the  African continent, and recent Pan-Africanism.  The special lecture was given by Dr. Oung Byun, senior researcher, Institute of International Affairs, GSIS, SNU.

2015-05-26

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The Development Financial Resources of Post-2015 period

Sponsored by Ministry of Strategy and Finance, supervised by the Korea Association for Policy Development, EDCF of Korea Exim Bank supported the seminar on ‘Financial Resources for the Development of the Post 2015 Period.’., at the International Conference Hall on May 21, 2015. The seminar started by opening remarks of Professor Chongsup Kim, the dean of GSIS, and was followed by the in-depth discussion by experts from schools, NGOs and other organizations on the issue of the development financial resources.  This is one of the critical issues to carry out sustainable development goals, which is a new development agenda set after MDG that will end by this year.  The issues of the development financial resources  include trends of development financial resources and Korea’s policy adjustments, sustainable economic development, roles of infra, development finance and knowledge sharing as non-financial developing resources, and expansion of private financial resources.

2015-05-26

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The Result of UR Negotiation Process and Prospects of DDA Development Direction

On May 21, 2015, Mr. Yoo, Byung Rin, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Trade, gave a lecture on “UR Negotiation and the Prospects of DDA.” Deputy Minister Yoo explained comprehensive timeline of the UR and DDA negotiation with comparative analysis on how these two rounds are similar and different in terms of scope, mechanism, and environment. Based on his own experience of sitting at numerous negotiation tables along with Korea’s trade negotiation history, his elaboration on interesting anecdotes related to specific meetings provided even more lively descriptions of actual negotiation settings. He emphasized the important role of the agricultural sector in terms of Korea’s trade policy and signified the need for general and embodied method for concession in the WTO for the current DDA negotiation to reach certain agreements.  

2015-05-22

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South Korea and the Nuclear Umbrella: Extended Detterence and Nuclear Weapons

Dr. Terence Roehrig, Professor of National Security Affairs, the Director of the Asia-Pacific Studies Group US Naval War College gave a special lecture at GSIS on May 13, 2015. Professor Roehrig talked about the US Nuclear Umbrella and South Korea, elaborating on the extended deterrence and use of the Nuclear Weapons. Roehrig started by affirming the strong alliance between the US and the Republic of Korea adding the strong credibility of the defense commitment of the US. Yet, he doubted the likelihood of the US actually using nuclear weapons against North Korea, though not disregarding the possibility altogether. The importance of dialogue with North Korea was also emphasized along these lines.  

2015-05-13

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New Trade Policy and Road Map of the Government

  On May 7, 2015, Mr. Kim, Hakdo, Executive  at the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy of Korea, gave a presentation on the “New Trade Policy Road Map of the Government.” Mr. Kim first provided a short history of Korean trade policy directives up to the current era, and explained how the current trade environment is changing through ongoing plurilateral mega-FTA negotiations, such as the TPP, and how the Korean government is trying to cope with new conditions via scrutinized policy objectives.  

2015-05-13

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TPP Negotiation :History, Negotiation, Dynamics and Prospect

On April 27, 2015, Dr. Deborah Elms, the Executive Director of the Asian Trade Center in Singapore, gave a lecture on the topic of “Origins, Evolution and Current Status of TPP Negotiations.” As the bilateral negotiation between the US and Japan is known to be agreed and the TPP negotiation is imminently heading to a conclusion, this lecture timely served the students’ interests in such a proper way. Dr. Elms provided well-arranged and extensive explanations on the details of TPP history, agreed draft contents, and prospects. As TPP was often mystified due to tight control of information, students were eager to engage in the discussions on this allegedly new “21st century high quality” agreement.    

2015-04-27

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2015 Academic Symposium for Emerging Scholars

    On April 17, 2015, Symposium for Emerging Scholars hosted by the International Society of Fair Trade (ISFT) took place at the International Conference Hall. Many young and eager scholars who received prizes last year for their excellent thesis were given opportunities to make presentations about their research to experts and fellow scholars. There were two groups from SNU GSIS taking part JiYeong Yoo, and Dongchul Kwak and Minju Kim. They presented about WTO countervailing duties in conjunction with preexisting WTO laws, and also about the effects of exchange rates on anti-dumping investigation processes, respectively. Other topics included economic effects that existing FTAs have on new FTAs and trade patterns between Korea and different parts of China.  

2015-04-27

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