FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

November 9, 2007

KOREA’S ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT FOCUS OF GRINNELL COLLEGE SYMPOSIUM

Korea’s economic and political development will be the focus of a day-long symposium sponsored by Grinnell College’s Rosenfield Program in Public Affairs and the Korea Economic Institute on Nov. 15 on the Grinnell College campus.

"This symposium is especially timely given the international effort to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons capacity," said Wayne Moyer, symposium organizer and director of the Rosenfield Public Affairs Program. "In fact, two symposium speakers are returning directly from Korea, so we will have first-hand information to share."

At 11 a.m., panelists John Merrill of the U.S. State Department and Derek Mitchell of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), who are returning from Korea, will discuss "The Six-Party Talks and U.S.-North Korean Negotiations."

Merrill is chief of the Northeast Asia Division of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research for the State Department and has held teaching and research positions in international relations and the politics of North and South Korea. Mitchell is the senior fellow for Asia in the International Security Program of CSIS and previously served in the Department of Defense as special assistant for Asian and Pacific affairs.

At 7:30 p.m., panelists Jeffrey Schott of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Grinnell graduate Louellen Stedman of the Korea Economic Institute will discuss "Economic Dynamism and the Global Economy: the Case of South Korea."

Schott is a senior fellow for international trade policy and economic sanctions for the Peterson Institute and is the author of several books on trade policy. Stedman, a 1985 graduate of Grinnell College, is senior advisor at the Korea Economic Institute, after a 17-year career with the U.S. Department of the Treasury in monetary policy.

Both panel discussions will be held in the Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center, Room 101, located at 1115 8th Ave. on the Grinnell College campus.

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