The KORUS FTA and the Future of the U.S.-Korea Alliance

Dear Colleague:

You are invited to attend a meeting of the Korea Club on Wednesday, September 24. We are delighted to have as our speaker Kurt Tong, Director of the Korea Desk at the U.S. State Department, who will speak OFF-THE-RECORD on the KORUS FTA and its impact on the future of the U.S.–Korea Alliance.

Prior to recently becoming Director of the Korea Desk at The U.S. State Department, Mr. Tong was Director for Asian Economic Affairs at the National Security Council. Previously, he served as Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs at the United States Embassy in Seoul from 2003 to 2006. Mr. Tong served as Counselor for Environment, Science & Health Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and as First Secretary covering macroeconomics and finance at the U.S. Embassy Tokyo in Tokyo. He was also a Visiting Scholar at the Tokyo University Faculty of Economics.

His previous Foreign Service experience includes working in the Office of Japanese Affairs at the State Department in Washington D.C., and at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Tong was an Associate with the Boston Consulting Group, K.K., in Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Tong has a B.A., magna cum laude, from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and studied at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute, the Beijing Institute of Education, Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies, and International Christian University in Tokyo. Mr. Tong speaks and reads Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. Mr. Tong is the recipient of the 2005 Herbert Salzman Award for Excellence in International Economic Performance.

The evening program will be held at Hunan Number One Restaurant—see address above. (Orange Line stop at Clarendon: the restaurant is two and a half blocks northeast of the metro station). Free parking is available, after 6:30 pm, on Highland Street in the lot adjacent to the restaurant (across the street from the church).

The program will start at 6:30 pm with a cash bar. A buffet dinner will be served at 7:00 pm, followed by the speaker’s presentation and Q & A session. The program will conclude at 9:00 pm. The cost of the dinner is $20.00, payable at the door by either check or cash. RSVP is required for this program.

To register for this program, please e-mail your confirmation to gs@keia.org.

Jim KelmanKongdan (Katy) OhGreg Scarlatoiu
703-568-6987703-845-2270202-222-0025