Asia Institute

Talk on how Korea can learn from the past in implementing a program to work together with China to combat the spread of deserts (Saturday, May 26, 2012)

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Emanuel addresses Korean college students in Future Forest set to travel to China to work in anti-desertifcation efforts.

I gave a talk for a group of Korean college students preparing to travel to China where they will work together with Chinese students on anti-desertification projects in July. The students are from universities across Korea and the event was sponsored by the Korea Foundation and Future Forest, the NGO dedicated to Korea-China cooperation on environmental issues of which I am a member. This new effort to bring together young people from Korea and China represents the initiative of the Asia Institute to build close networks between people of different nations that parallel technological and logistical integration. 

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Political and Apolitical Reasons for Drinking Coffee in Korea

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When I wrote the article about the “Café Revolution in Korea,” I did not go into a sufficient consideration of what is driving this craze for cafes. I would say that they make no economic sense. There seem to be cafes sprouting up on every corner and in the case of the road leading up the Kyung Hee University, I would go as far as to say that it is almost wall to wall coffee shops, many empty.

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Asia Institute Seminar “Korea’s New Role as Global Development Partner”

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Asia Institute Seminar

  “Korea’s New Role as Global Development Partner”

May 25, 2012 (Friday)

6:30 PM

Speakers:

Peter M. Beck, Korea Representative for the Asia Foundation

Emanuel Pastreich, Director, The Asia Institute

 

Discussant:

Ki-Hwan Kim, Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Korea Development Institute

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“The Seoul Nuclear Security Summit: New Thinking in Northeast Asia?” (article)

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A thoughtful article by Asia Institute’s senior associate Markku Heiskanen on the recent Seoul Nuclear Security Summit with Brookings Institution’s James Goodby.

MARCH 28, 2012

“The Seoul Nuclear Security Summit: New Thinking in Northeast Asia?”

James E. Goodby, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies

Markku Heiskanen, Senior Associate and Program Director, The Asia Institute

The Nautilus Institute

The primary motive for convening the 2010 nuclear security summit was to address the unprecedented threat of nuclear materials in the hands of terrorists. This remains the main task of the summit, but two other security problems will be on the minds of participants: the Fukushima catastrophe of 2011 and the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran. 

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“Korea’s advantages in Gaming Can Determine the Future of Surgery” (article in Korea IT Times)

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KOREA IT TIMES

Korea’s advantages in Gaming Can Determine the Future of Surgery

Monday, April 16th, 2012
Emanuel Pastreich

SEOUL, KOREA —  Korea’s remarkable strengths in display technology, IT and especially gaming offers a unique opportunity to play a key role in a field not traditionally considered a Korean strength: surgery. The convergence of technologies today promises to radically transform surgery over the next ten years, providing unprecedented  opportunities for innovation, in a word, whereas surgery today resembles flying a biplane with much dependence on visual confirmation and physical strength, surgery of the future will be akin to operating a 747, employing an array of tools to visualize the invisible internal aspects of the body in 3-dimensions and to do be able to do so on a 24 hour basis before and after a surgical procedure.

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