Hello!

Welcome to UBC’s Centre for Korean research, we are a university in Vancouver, Canada,
located on the ancenstral, traditional and unceded territory of the Musqueam people. My name is
Jeehye, and I currently serve as Director at The Center for Korean research. We are part of The
Institute of Asian Research at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of
British Columbia. Today I am joined by Dr. Jihyun Shin from the Dept of History at UBC, as
well as our CKR graduate fellows.

This is our fifth outside guest speaker event since the new year, and we are so fortunate to have
here with us today a distinguished scholar of Korean politics, Dr. Erik Mobrand. Prof. Mobrand
is Korea Policy Chair and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. He joined Seoul
National University’s Graduate School of International Studies as an associate professor in 2016,
after teaching at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Mobrand is the author of Top-Down
Democracy in South Korea (University of Washington Press, 2019).

Dr. Mobrand will share his research on South Korea’s Indo-Pacific strategy, namely how the
hitherto underspecified terms of SK’s new diplomacy can be an opportunity for Koreans, for the
future of the region and for trans-Pacific relations. After Dr. Mobrand’s presentation, our own
Prof. Hyung-Gu Lee, Editor-Pacific Affairs and AECL/KEPCO Chair in Korean Research at
UBC, is today’s discussant and will offer his insights and comments. I would also
warmly encourage our audience to feel free to present their questions and comments after the
presentation. With that, please join me in welcoming Dr. Mobrand.