November 13, 2018

SVSU hosting lecture by scholar on North Korea's Nuclear Crisis

An expert in one of the world's most dangerous foreign policy challenges – North Korea's nuclear weapons program – will speak on the topic at Saginaw Valley State University.

Hyun-Wook Kim will visit Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in SVSU's Founders Hall. His presentation will address how North Korea's nuclear program changed the balance of power in Northeast Asia, and what that political environment means for the rest of the world.

The event is free and open to the public.

Kim has played a key role in shaping South Korea's policies towards China and the U.S. on the issue of North Korea's nuclear program.

He is a professor at the Seoul-based Korea National Diplomatic Academy, which is affiliated with South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kim also served as an advisory member for the National Security Council and today remains a standing member of the National Unification Advisory Council, an agency formed to advise the president of South Korea on peaceful unification policies between North and South Korea.

Kim received his bachelor's degree in political science from Yonsei University in Seoul. He received his master's degree and Ph.D. in political science from Brown University, and he worked at the University of Southern California as a postdoctoral fellow.

The lecture is part of SVSU's Barstow Excellence in Teaching Humanities Seminar, which was created to promote excellence in teaching and recognize scholarship in the humanities.  The seminar was established through a gift from The Barstow Foundation, which supports education, health and human services agencies and humanitarian causes with emphasis on the greater Midland area.

The lecture also is part of the SVSU 2018-19 Dow Visiting Scholars and Artists Series. For more information about Wednesday's presentation and the speaker series, visit www.svsu.edu/publiclectures/.