뉴스레터

The 2015 Korean American Leaders Conference was held at the Rayburn House Office Building (Gold Room) in Washington D.C. on May 19, 2015, hosted by the Korean American Public Affairs Committee (KAPAC), a NAHF-supported civil-society organization, and sponsored by the Northeast Asian History Foundation.

The purpose of this conference was for Korean American leaders, along with U.S. Congressmen and Korea's National Assembly members, to publicly address important issues that not only concerned the Korean American community but were of common interest to the governments and civil societies of Korea and the U.S, and try to find solutions to those issues.

The conference was made possible by the various networking efforts of the KAPAC based in the Korean American community of New York, and its President David Chulwoo Lee, to bring Korean American leaders closer to U.S. politicians.

The Northeast Asian History Foundation has provided generous support over the years for such efforts of the Korean American community to connect with civil society and opinion leaders in the U.S. because their attention and understanding of the issues of 'comfort women' and the name East Sea are especially extremely important in winning the international community's support on those issues. Naturally, the NAHF had a deep interest in the Korean American Leaders Conference, and it was expressed by the attendance of its Public Relations Director Kim Minkyu.

Working Toward Enhancing the Interests of the Korean American Community Based on the ROK-U.S Alliance

KAPAC is a civil-society organization committed to protecting the interests of the Korean American community and enhancing the community's political power. Since its establishment in 2006, KAPAC has worked consistently to solidify and move forward ROK-US relations based on the bilateral alliance through various activities over the years. In 2007, KAPAC played a decisive role in proposing the resolution recognizing the strong alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States (H. Res. 295) and getting it passed unanimously at the U.S. House of Representatives. By building on its past successes, KAPAC finally succeeded in hosting the 2015 Korean American Leaders Conference at the U.S. Capitol, the center of U.S. politics, jointly with U.S. Rep. Ed Royce, the Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The conference was opened by KAPAC President David Chulwoo Lee, and attended by a number of quite influential political figures in the U.S., including Chairman of U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce, U.S. Representatives Charles Rangle (Democrat) and Bob Dold (Republican), and U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Robert R. King. Also present in this meaningful event were:　Korea's National Assembly member Park Su-hyeon from the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) (Gongju, South Chungcheong Province); President of the League of Korean Americans-USA (LOKA) Young-Dae Cha; Co-representative of CAWCS (Citizens Against War Crime Symbolism) Paek Young-hyeon; and Chairman of Asian American National Republican Association Sonny Lee, among other leaders of Korean American organizations.

Especially noteworthy at the conference was a special session on historical issues in Asia. NAHF Public Relations Director Kim Minkyu gave a speech on "The Essence of the Dokdo and 'Comfort Women' Issues," explaining the historical background of the ongoing controversial issues among Korea, China, and Japan, the NAHF's research results so far including its proposed solutions based on the universal norms of the international community and humanitarianism. His concise speech really spoke to the participants and touched their hearts.

Ed Royce, the Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, responded by expressing his agreement. He received a lot of attention as he went on to make clear that "Dokdo is historically Korean territory" and "the sea east of Korea is the East Sea," and express his view that "Japan must apologize to 'comfort women.'

Ed Royce, Chairman of U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, Voices Unprecedented Support for Korea

These remarks were met with a standing ovation and cheers from over 150 participants in the conference because they were made at a time when there was a sharp confrontation between Korea and Japan over territorial issues, and they came from the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.S House of Representatives that has the power to make decisions regarding the security of Japan. A comment from one of the participants, "I feel like a long-cherished dream has come true," sums up the excitement in the Korean American community expecting Ed Royce's remarks to put a diplomatic pressure on the Japanese government. KAPAC also thinks that his remarks made a very important turning point and the Japanese government will not easily lay claims to Dokdo from that point on.

President of KAPAC David Chulwoo Lee said, "It was quite unprecedented that the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a very busy and important person, had a candid discussion with the participants about important diplomatic issues between Korea and the U.S. It was a really exciting experience for me to conduct the discussion in ways we wanted with Ed Royce and other Congressmen and Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues sitting side by side."

Mr. Lee also explained the plans ahead, saying that he would start making preparations now for the 2nd Korean American Leaders Conference to be co-hosted next year by the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations as well as by the Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He also said he would try to make sure that even more U.S. Congressmen would participate in the conference for the open discussion of the common issues of Korea and the U.S. to reconfirm the ROK-U.S. alliance and develop together.

KAPAC also runs internship programs to provide young Korean Americans as future leaders with an opportunity to experience American politics at work and help them grow into contributing citizens of American society.