Thursday, November 18, 1999
WRITER: Sharron Hannon, 706/542-1024, [email protected]
CONTACT: Han Park, 706/542-6633, [email protected]
NORTH KOREAN DELEGATION TO VISIT UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA NOV. 29-30
ATHENS, Ga. -- The University of Georgia's Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS) will host a delegation of top government advisers from North Korea who will visit here Nov. 29 and 30. As part of that visit, members of the delegation will join U.S. policy advisers for a public symposium Nov. 29 from 2-5 p.m. in Masters Auditorium of the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Participants will discuss a new phase in relations between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Participants in the symposium will include:
* Kim Hyong U, head of the North Korean delegation and immediate past ambassador to the United Nations. He now serves as vice chairman of the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, established to deal with countries without diplomatic ties. Four additional members of the North Korean delegation also will join him in the symposium.
* Desaix Anderson, executive director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, an international consortium that seeks to replace the construction of plants conducive to production of weapons-grade plutonium with safer light-water reactors.
* James Laney, former president of Emory University and U.S. ambassador to South Korea from 1993-1997.
* Donald Gregg, former ambassador to South Korea from 1989-1993 and now president of the New York-based Korea Society.
* John Merrill, senior foreign affairs analyst with the U.S. State Department.
* Deborah DeYoung, senior aide to U.S. Rep. Tony Hall, who has accompanied him on numerous visits to North Korea.
According to GLOBIS director Han Park, this is the first time a senior North Korean delegation has visited an American university and follows in the wake of President Clinton's decision to lift economic embargoes against North Korea on Sept. 17. "This symposium represents a tangible effort to facilitate mutual understanding and cooperation between age-old adversaries," said Park.
Park is an expert on Far Eastern politics, including relations between North and South Korea. He has made frequent visits to those countries and is called on as a commentator by national and international media. He has been on the political science faculty at UGA since 1970.
The Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS) fosters educational and research activities focused on economic, political and socio-cultural change and development. GLOBIS has a European office in Verona, Italy, and an Asian office in Kyoto, Japan. For additional information, see the GLOBIS Web site (www.uga.edu/globis).
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