Upcoming Events
BK21
[SNU GSIS BK21] Special Lecture Series 37 - 28 March (Thur.) 1:00pm - 2:30pm (KST)
Event Date
2025.3.28.
Speakers
Panel
Venue
Organized by
작성자
관리자 2
작성일
2025-03-14
조회
243
Dear all,
SNU GSIS BK21 FOUR Program hosts various events inviting prominent figures to deliver distinguished lectures with our Special Lecture Series.
For our 37th session, we are inviting Peter Banseok Kwon, the Associate Professor of Korean Studies from the University at Albany, SUNY.
He will talk on the theme of "Arms, Innovation, and Industry: The Yulgok Operation and the Birth of South Korea's K-Defense Industry".
Please refer to the information below for more details:
This session is open to all SNU GSIS students, but attendance is mandatory for BK fellows. (Attendance and meaningful participation will be highly recognized for next semester's selection.)
Please fill out the google form through the link below (sign-up by 22 March [Saturday] 11:59)
(*Once signed-up, please make sure to attend as lunch will be provided based on the google forms filled out.)
If you sign up for an event but fail to attend without prior notice, your attendance for the next event will not be recognized, even if you participate.
You may attend the event without signing up in advance, but please note that lunch will only be provided to those who registered beforehand.
Thank you.
<Event Information>
- Date & Time: March 28, 2025 (Fri) 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM (KST)
- Venue: International Conference Room (4F)
- Language: English
- Abstract:
South Korean weapons, now globally recognized as “K-defense” (K-bangsan), are sold worldwide. How did a country unable to produce basic firearms in the early 1970s become both a leading arms exporter and economic titan within a single generation? Drawing from his book Cornerstone of the Nation (Harvard University Asia Center, 2024), Peter Kwon examines how the Park Chung Hee government (1961-1979) transformed the nation under the clandestine Yulgok Operation—South Korea’s independent military modernization program—creating unprecedented synergies between military innovation and industrial advancement. This process fostered deep coalitions between military and civilian sectors, fundamentally reshaping South Korea's economic, technological, and political trajectory in the decades that followed. By illuminating this obscured history, the presentation offers critical insights into the role of military-industrial development in national transformation and discusses its broader implications for contemporary economic policies, national sovereignty, emerging powers, and global security paradigms.
