Weekend on cspan 3. Coming up next, a portion from a recent conference discussing the future of relations among the United States, japan and south korea. In this panel, experts and students talk about the challenges for the countries. The International Student conferences, korea fon dags and the peace gown fags were there. Its about 90 minutes. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors for this event. Given that this is a younger time, i know the Korea Foundation has been instrumental in getting this off the ground, launching it and promoting it. We are proud of it today as well. So, the next panel will focus on the challenges of the workplace, specifically looking at how the three countries are facing democratic fertility and striking a worklife balance and the strategies that are best and how we can work together. So, i would like to introduce the moderator for the panel, florence mayor joined the service in 2011 and served in u. S. Missions in mexico and italy. She is do mesically assigned to the bureau of operations. She studied at Howard University and spent time on the germanpolish border. We are excited to have her lead the panel today. Thank you, alex for that kind introduction and thank you as well to isc for the invitation to moderate this panel on the challenges in the workplace. Thank you as well to sasakawa usa for organizing this event. I want to Say Something first off to the students who are joining us today from the executive committees from the japan america and korea america conferences. I know it is a very challenging path and challenging task that you have set for yourself and i just want to urge you to keep going and to keep the faith. It will be worth it. Learning how to work as part of a multilingual, set by continents and oceans between you and learning how to stay motivated and hold each other to account, developing those sorts of skills have been very valuable to me in my personal and professional life. Im sure you will discover the rich rewards they will pay in the future. Hang in there, keep going. I know it will be worth it. I just want to send that message to you having been in your shoes several years ago. I know very well the frustrations and the rewards that are on your path. So, this panel on challenges in the workplace, we have four distinguished speakers with us. Im going to introduce the speakers, then we will have initial contributions from the speakers on the topic at hand, followed by several rounds of questions and during the question round, i would particularly encourage our participants here today, especially the students who have traveled so far to be with us as well as other supporters to contribute questions and con triboog tribootr tribugss to the topic. Im trying to make it par tis pa tour. When you make your contributions, i may cut you off, so make them very concise. So, allow me to introduce our speakers. So, to my far left, we have erica eto, who is serving on the Japanese Executive Committee for the 70th japan america student conference. She is currently a sophomore student at a school of medicine. Her interest in Foreign Affairs is strong and she hopes to have a constructive and fruitful discussion about what students can do to nurture relationships between the three countries, korea, japan and the u. S. She believes this trilateral symposium is a chance to learn about the delicate situation from three points of view and hopes to join a deeper understanding and knowledge about everyones values and thoughts. So my left, my immediate left, i was giyoung park, the vice chair of the 11th korea america student conference korean executive committee. She is double majoring in english, literature and linguistics at the womens university. She is interested in how korea and the global world influence each other and develop ties in a sophisticated manner. Furthermore, she is interested in relations between korea, the u. S. And japan. To my far right, we have bridget bridgette schulte, Good Life Initiative at new america. She writes for the Washington Post, time. Com, the guardian among other publications. Prior to the current position, she was a staff writer for the Washington Post and won awards and was part of the team that won the 2008 pulitzer price. She is the author of the New York Times best selling book, overwhelmed how to work, love and play when no one has the time. Very timely contribution. We look forward to your thoughts. Her voice helped spark a National Conversation about overwork, burnout, productivity, gender roles and the consequences of outdated policies and cultural attitudes and the way forward on those issues. Finally, to my immediate left, we have frank aarons, the Vice President of bgr, where he creates and distributes content across traditional and digital platforms. He oversaw Communication Strategies for international and corporate clients and designed corporate training seminars for Industry Leading Companies to help bridge the eastwest culture gap for both u. S. Businesses entering the korean market and korean businesses operating in the u. S. Before coming to bgr, he led Hyundai Motors general Public Relations efforts from the Company Headquarters in seoul as Vice President of Global Corporate communications. He is the author of the book, seoul man a memoir of cars, culture, crisis and unexpected hilarity inside a korean corporate titan. The story of his three years as the only american at Hyundai Motor headquarters in seoul, south korea. He previously worked 18 years as an editor and reporter at the Washington Post. All right. Now, we are going to go around and i will ask the speakers to make additional comments on the topic at hand. In case you have forgotten the topic we are speaking about, challenges in the workplace, the oecd found economic and fertility challenges facing the u. S. , japan and korea are linked toward policies of working families, gender equality and working hours. As the next generation of u. S. And Asian Pacific leaders plan their careers, what are the challenges and how can we improve quality of life in the workplace. All right. So, im going turn it over to our first contributor, miss erica eto. First of all, i appreciate to have the opportunity to speak in front of you. My nak is erica eto. Im a sophomore at the school of medicine, amoring in medical field. Im serving for the seventh japanese conference. As a student, i have been interested in thinking about my future carrier as a professional medical doctor. Im curious about the ways of balancing my life and my work and im still searching for better answers for my career and my life. That is why im here today. Before talking about my opinions and expectations for the future, i would like to mention two points about the situation in japan that had some connection with worklife balance. My first point is about the connection of birthright and an amount of time spent on work. There are many factors that inference the birthrate, but according to research, i found out that the decision of having the second birth has a lot to do with husbands amount of time contributing to the household work. Older japanese government are trying very hard to increase the low fertility rate. They are having very difficult time. I think that this specific characteristic of japanese working situation, i heard that some male workers, have to under go a hard and tough competition and also the amount of time they spent in office is sometimes the amount of time for the evaluation for the commitment to their company and then that will have a strong connection with the promotion in their future. So, because of this, it is very difficult for male workers to contribute to household jobs. It will end up in the wifes in house and also low fertility rate and worklife imbalance for males. My second point is about the usage of parental policy in japan. Older japanese government offers conditions about the parental policy. The usage rate is low. Female workers tend to quit their job after they have their first birth of their child. I learned from some studies that the keyword here is agenda in a company. What i mean is, if the company had a gender equal climate, then the usage rate of parental policy is behind. On the other hand, if the company doesnt have gender equal climate, then the usage rate of gender, no, parental policy would be low. Thinking this through topics, i will talk about things that i would like to see in the future. First thing is about the environmental change and the changes in peoples perspective of gender. I think education to youngsters, especially for middle School Students is very important. But, education itself is too simple of an answer. I think we also need to think about needs to foster culture of responsibility, leadership and strong relationships, for example. My last point is about building a grass root communication for families. I believe that there are many people who share the same experience of having difficulties to balance the work and life. So, making and creating a chance for them to share their own experiences, to share their difficulties, to share their values would be very helpful for them to see the life for the way they should proceed. Also, mentorships are very effective. Mentors would have the same kind of experience, same kind of difficulties in the past and they will be very concrete and effective so that the mentees will learn and know how to manage the situation and know how to live and how to solve the problems they are having now. Thats all. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you, erica for that contribution. Now, i look to giyoung for your contribution on this topic. First of all, im so, like, excited. Thank you because you are warm, welcoming introduction of mine and also, as you know, im in university in korea. One thing i want to share with you is iwa is mine. That is not just because you taught me a lot of values, but because it taught me how can i make words as a woman. In that sense, im so honored to be here with you guys and giving me an opportunity to share my thoughts with you, too. Before we move into the specific agenda, i would like to talk about, like, the last year, december 26th, our president being declared National Popularity crisis, which is a low birthrate in asian society. At the time, i was really happy because he declared that. The new idea beyond conventional thought is focus on women. So, thats why i bring two agendas to share with you guys. First one is job stability of women and the second one is worklife balance. As the worklife balance, the job stability, it is really hard to solve problems, not only for korea, but everywhere. But, if i have to talk about korea because im korean and also im going to get a job in korea, so, according to the Korean National statistics office, 46. 3 women is experience career discontinuity. Among those, they answer that more than 65 women answer that was because they have to take care of their children and also giving birth. So, the things happen. Its really hard to solve these problems, but i do, personally, i believe it is important to support women to get a job and ensure their job stability and job continuity but at the same time, it is important because in workplace, we need to show our devotion to the company, but using parental leave or going back to our home seems to be measured as if she doesnt have devotion that much. On the other hand, if she goes back to her house, there are various, huge responsibilities to take care of their children and family, too. In these situations, a lot of women are placed on choosing between career and family. So, of course you also can get bought, but if she want to do that, she has to sacrifice herself a lot. So so, for solving this problem, but we have to make sure, so far, in our prior administration, there was a similar policy as well, also. But, most likely, it is implemented by choosing a corporation or institution, also. So, i gently would like to say, if you want to make policy, then it should be implemented by all level of corporation, regardless of size and the industry. Furthermore, there is another thing we have to keep in mind. As we do make policy, not just policy but also not just policy, but also we have to share the responsibility. We have to think about the household and raising children and think about our future population or all relations between all of us is not only for the woman, i mean mom, but also for the dad and men. It does not mean, it is only because parents problem. We have to share this problem and our individual and all of the family members, also. So, plus, we make policy, i would like to suggest another really important sector which is perception as well, cause, personally, i believe that we should all agree a lot of obstacles women face in workplace needed to needed to address in the mind of us. There is a Reality Tv Show in korea, called return of superman. It is really popular and follows families, especially husband, men and fathers and it makes fathers to go back to their home and they might take care of children and do their household. I was really impressed because it was a really good example how these programs can influence a lot to change peoples thoughts and peoples perception. So, like, as a future leader, as a korean, i know about that our Korean Society is changing in a better way, for the Better Future. At the same time, i do believe if you really want to make Better Future nation, we have to share our own responsibility and also engage in the responsibility, too. So, that is all that i want to share with you guys and i will appreciate all the questions you guys might have. Thank you for listening. [ applause ] thank you for that contribution and now i will turn it over to bridgette to hear her thoughts. Okay. Great. Well, hi everyone. Im bridgette. Thank you so much for having me. Im honored to be here and looking forward to this discussion. This has been fascinating, so far. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I am a writer and a journalist, like frank, i was at the Washington Post for years. I have to be honest. I never thought about worklife balance or gender roles. I went into the newspaper industry, which tends to be very macho. The best ones, you look at the front page, write about war, politics, bombs and guns and think that is most important. Right . Issues about worklife balance or Workplace Culture or gender roles that tended to never be covered before. I have to be perfectly honest, when i started out, you know, im embarrassed to say how many years ago, but over 20 years ago, i graduated from college in the 1980s and we all thought, we are done, right . Men and women are equal. The Womans Movement opened all these doors and everything is going to be fine now, right . So, many years later i discovered that is not the case. Let me ask all of you here, particularly the Young Students or the older folks. If you are older, when you were starting out and you younger folks, when you think about worklife balance, i dont know if you want to show hands, i dont want to put anyone on the spot. How many think worklife balance is important . Okay. Thats a lot of people. How many of you, when you think into your future, how many of you think it is posz zable that you will be able to balance work and life . Okay, not adds many hands. How many of you think that one is going to take precedence over the other . How many of you think you are going to spend more time at work than on your life or your family . Okay. How many of you think family is going to take precedence . You are going to have to lose your ambition or your career . Here we are, in the 21st century and we are all thinking life is either or. Either career or family. What i want to challenge us all to think about, thats the work im doing at new america, at the better life lab, how do we move from an either or mind both and. How can you have a meaningful career, meaningful ambition, a life of purpose and your work, and have time for meaningful time with your family, for connection. We know from all that the Happiness Research now that what makes humans feel happy and fulfilled is deep connection with other people. And when you are working all of the time, you dont have that space to create. And so then you have a lifetime of a lot of work and at some point youre going to retire. At some point the work ends and then what . Who will you be . What will your life have meant . I have been working on a project looking at the overwork that is really what i do now. I study overwork in the United States and in japan and korea and south korea, because when you look at International Comparisons, they work along the longest hours of any advanced economy, put in long work hours but then you look at how valuable the hours are, you look at International Comparisons of productivity per hours worked and japan and south korea are at the bottom of the barrel. So there is a lot of time spent at work. But how good is that time . How productive is it . How much does that really further the quality of the work . And if you are spending all of that time at work, and there isnt that same sense of quality or meaning or purpose, and youre still you have sort of you dont have any space for life, for time, for family, for friends or for i broke my wrist ice skating i have to say so i do try to make time for fun. That doesnt found fun. It was fun until the point i fell. But it is important. The harvard psych ollist eric ericson said the richest and fullest lives make time for the three great arenas and that is purposeful work and love and time to connect with family and friends, time to reflect, time for yourself. And play. That play is what really makes us human. And in our work focused world, we often think that play and leisure time is meaningless or not important or silly. And yet what were finding with Neuroscience Research in particular is that you need that time off and away from work because that is where fresh ideas come from. Were moving more and more into knowledge economy, where you are only as good as the next idea. And the Research Shows that you do not get your best ideas sitting there at your desk burned out after working 11 or 1 hours a day. We dont really know how far you can push a knowledge worker. The 40 hour workweek, people dont realize, came from henry ford, when he was looking at how far could you push a manual labe orrer before they get sick and stupid and before they started making mistakes and costing you money and at the time, back in the 1920s, the average work day for a steel worker in the United States was 12 hours a day, six or seven days a week. And so henry ford found that eight hours a day, five days a week, actually got you the most productivity and at the time all of the the National Manufacturing association, everybody freaked out, they thought this is terrible. Can you not cut work hours. This is awful. You will lose money. And in a year, he proved them all wrong because he made a whole lot more money. Because the people were refreshed and they could do their work, but then they also had leisure time. He raised wages, they had more money and in their leisure time they could afford to buy his cars and then go out and have fun on the weekends. So it actually benefited him, it benefited the people, it benefited the sew siociety so a move into what does both and look like in a knowledge economy, we need to think what is work now. How do we redefine work. We are not manufacturing as much as we used to. You dont have the same visual cues tor when work is over, for a knowledge worker it is very difficult to know when are you done . And so it is easier to measure a worker by the hours they put in. To say, oh, my goodness, that person was here until 11 00 last night. They must be a great worker. And what that is is really what we like what sociologists call the ideal worker norm. That the ideal worker is someone who works all of the time at the drop of a hat and is always there in early and home late, maybe divorced three and four times, doesnt know the name of his kids. Someone just totally dedicated to work. And yet were finding that that is actually not the case. There are productivity studies that you can push a person to about maybe 50 hours, 55 hours a week. But for a short period of time. And then what happens, they call it a productivity cliff. You literally fall off. You become a butt in a chair. You just cant produce anything. So i think one of the things we need to think about is how do we define the any ideal worker for a new knowledge age. I think that is really critical. And the other point, and this is certainly what i ran up against, how do we define the ideal worker in the way that it is not just mask masculine. But somebody that could work all of the time and has no time tor family so somebody else is taking care of the family or they have no family. And we are a human species. We do need to reproduce if we want to survive and so we need to figure out what is the ideal worker in a way that opens up possibility to men and women or anyone across the gender spectrum. What is good work look like . And so then what does home life look like . We talked about gender roles. Women in the United States have been graduated from college in greater numbers than men since the 1980s. Getting more graduate degrees than men and when you look across every single industry, women are stuck in the middle to the bottom layers. It is really a pyramid. They are very, very few women that rise to leadership and when you look at why, that is because in addition to the ideal worker, we also have the ideal mother norm and that is that women are supposed to be the care giver. That women are just biologically wired to do it, that they are better at it. That they should do all the child work, planning, all of the logistics, all of the housework. But this is the other thing that science is very interesting, were also discovering by accident really that men and women that men are just as wired for nurture as women are. That mens bodies, when they become fathers, their test oft oft their testosterone level go up and there is nothing in my genetic makeup that means that i am better at doing the dishes than my husband. [ laughter ] so i think some of it is we need to really question those assumptions that only women can or should care. And we talk a lot about how do we move to that next level and i think it is a combination of policy, but we also know policy is not enough. As you know, as erica mentioned, japan has some of the most generous parental leave policies for men. And barely 2 of men take it. Somebody was telling me, there is an interesting case of a canadian that works for a Japanese Company that tried to take his year long leave and just got fired. So policy is one thing. Culture is quite another. So you need to move policy, but you also need to move culture. And how do you change those attitudes to recognize that both men and women can work and men and women could care and thats the work were trying do as well. So ill leave it at that but im happy to answer any further questions. [ applause ] thank you, bridgette so much for that contribution. And now i turn over to frank for his thoughts. Thank you. Well, good morning, everyone. [ speaking in a Foreign Language ] i hope i covered everyone. I just like to point out that this is a rare occurrence. Im the only man on this panel. And how unusual that is. In fact, there is a whole twitter meme about all male panels so it is nice to be on the flip side of this for a change. And these sort of person to person exchanges between cultures are so key. They are a key part of diplomacy and leadership for the next generation. This is all great stuff youve been hearingism want to build on it and tell you about what it looks like inside of a korean corporation. I worked at Hyundai Motor from 2010 to 2013. I was the only american there. Every day 3and 4,000 people walked in and about seven foreigners and i was the only american and the question you most logically will have is what on earth were you doing there. The answer is that is what happens when you marry a diplomat. My wife rebecca got into the Foreign Service and she was posted to seoul, to the u. S. Embassy in seoul. And i was in the Washington Post and this was before jeff bez oez swooped in with his billions of dollars and rescued the Washington Post. And so i was looking for a plan b. Because i was an older reporter and i was i knew that i would have to have some sort of exit plan, i was afraid and i wasnt as brilliant enough as author as bridget to craft an entire field of stuft stu study and the lo guy was retiring and so so woody allen said 90 of success is showing. I would be in korea and they needed me and i got hired. So i was there for three years. And i will tell you that and bridgette will back me up, working in a newsroom is the worst preparation for a. , working in a corporation, and b. , working in a confusion corporation. And so those of you understanding that there is the east asian cultures are con fukushim and here in the west we are taught to flatten management structure. Everybody is the same. Im ted and youre bob and youre the ceo and im the temp. And so you have the two orientation here. And what happens in an intersection when two cars meet like this. You get a tbone crash. And that is exactly what happened to me when i walked into hyundai at this boisterous american going to show you how to do the p. R. The global style and got my butt handed to me pretty quickly. And made a lot of mistakes. Chief among them was not really understanding how the roles of gender played out differently in different culture. And i found out now it is there is no one who works harder in the world than a working mother anywhere. Am i right . But in the korean culture, the family who have means will send their kids to free schools during the day time, but by then they spend money for the after school academy, the hogwartz and they go until 8 00, 9 00, 10 00 at night. And when i was there, the Government Cut off the time that they said you cannot send your kids to school after 10 00. We are trying to reign it in. And then the enterprising teacher set up illegal hogwarts in hotel rooms because the parents demanded it. The parents demand extra education. And so then the government responds by recruiting hog spies to snitch on the after school until 11 00 at night academies. So you see how the cycle goes. Because everyone is pushing toward the annual College Entrance exam. Which is in october i think. And kids literally spend their lives training. Im sure there is something similar in japan. And so it is been a make or break moment. There was even a a translation of a korean phrase, you follow the right speck. And that meant you study well, to do well in your hog wands and then do well on your national College Entrance exam and they get into one of the top three the sky universities or eway should be in there. Im just adding. But the korean ivies and then if you get a degree, any degree, then you could walk into samsung or hyundai or lg and you are set for life. And in a country where two generations ago that t was almost every country in the world knowing that you have a salary for life is important, right. But things have changed so quickly. And if you walk into hyundai headquarters in the morning, you will see a lot of women workers. A lot of male workers. Maybe even 50 50. A lot of them. But you wont see female executives an that is because the demands on the korean working mothers are so high that i found when i was there, they could have one kid and still manage the care of the child and the demands of working 10, 12 hours a day. But then once they had the second kid it became physically impossible. It just you couldnt do it all. So they drop out. And so their goes your next generation of managers. And when i was at and hadd ate hired the very first female executive and she came in from the outside. She came in as director level from i think mckenzie. I dont think she had kids either. And so so she is Vice President now in marketing. Thats the first and it was not it is about the same final that i think samsung hired their first. So the demands that any job if you want to be a executive in the west, you have to work long hours. But there are extra demands, at least in korea on the working women so you are losing that potential female leadership. And we all know, a lot of works have has been done on this, jane knewton small wrote this book with the greatest title of broad impact, the impact of women in leadership, right, and she found that once the majority once a certain percentage of female leadership like say 30 of a korms korms corp oration and that is worth while striving for. A korea has good parental leave and no one takes it. At hyundai you could take off two additional days a month in addition to the weekends. It is rare people would take it. You develop this sense of [ inaudible ] which is reading the air around you and you ask your boss, may i take my day off and your boss said, yes. But then you know what your boss is actually thinking and their relationship to his boss and you know how much work your coworkers will have to take up for your slack and you say, i will not take my day off. And that is just how it happens db a and it perpetuates and between hours worked and prod productivity and i will say this i left korea four years ago and things happen really fast in korea. Things change fast but im sure you will tell me when i get things wrong because my knowledge is four years old. But you didnt leave work until you boss left even if you had nothing to do. I would see people cruising the internet and shopping for things. Because she just couldnt leave the house or couldnt to go home. And so that is why i have thought i had this idea, somebody should write a book about this. There is an optimum way of working. We talk about what is new worker. I would like to see a hybrid of the best characteristics of the american and korean. So what are they . Do one thing you notice in korea is an adversity to risk. And that makes perfect sense based on where the country came from. But the problem is risk is what creates opportunity. And there hasnt been a culture to give mr. Or miss kim 5 million to start up their app, right, which is going to fail in six months, and then give them another 5 million to start up their next thing which may take because that is how things build. And so you dont have that sort of risktaking attitude. Which is what we specialize in. We specialize in heedless risk. I mean, how many startups in Silicon Valley got their 100 million and they blew half tv on a super bowl commercial and then the belly up a half a year later. So wouldnt it be great to take the appetite, increased appetite for risk in the west, with the discipline that we see in herent in a structure and put them together. Now that would be something interesting. And so that was sort of my takeaway observation after having worked there for three years. And then coming back to an American Workplace where i call my boss jeff and i dont call him by his name and title. So i have a lot of stories but i wont go on too much farther. I think about this and it is fun to be part of it. Thank you. [ applause ] all right, thank you so much, frank for your contribution. So the next part of our panel will be the question section. I have prepared some questions. But before i go into those, i want to see if there are any comments, questions, contributions from our students and supporters for what the panelists have said so far. Okay. I see a question right here. Young lady with the glasses. Please stand up, and introduce your name and your affiliation and then pose your comment, contribution or question. Hello. Thank you so much for your contribution. My name is kathy warn, from the American Task on the american side and i have a question for all of the panelists. So we see a trending both japan and Korea Society that were facing a aging society and low birthrate and as mentioned before, the solution posted by the government is increasing participation of women workers. And on the one side it is pretty exciting to hear the news but on the other side it comes it concerns me that the increasing participation of women in the workforce is because we need women and men is not enough. But so historically i think both in america and doing [ inaudible ] to end in china after the construction of communism, we effortlessly increased women workers in the workforce but we dont see a sustainable change and also on the other side, also increase pressure on the women to take both roles in the family and in the workforce. So i wonder if you share the same concern as i do or do you see a more optimistic change for women in the future . Thank you. Thank you. Would any of our panelists like to address this. I will start off. I think that youre right, when you look at historical responses, adding women to the workplace and then in some countries say in the scandinavian countries, adding very generous family policies aimed only at women, that is not the answer. Even in the scandinavian countries, what they found is that adding very generous policies that helped women really only reinforced traditional gender roles. So in sweden, which everyone thinks as thissee gality arian paradise, you have more women in the Public Sector than the United States. More women in the United States work if the private sector. You have more women working parttime. So when i traveled there to do reporting, many Women Leaders will say, well our governments have helped us have jobs, but they vsht but he havent helped us have careers. So look at universal policies that make men and women and create the cultures that enable men and women to take time for caregiver responsibilities. The one one study that i saw that was really, really astounding was done in iceland and they were looking at their policies and like many other countries they had only Maternity Leave policies or to help women with care giving. And what they discovered is that again it just reinforced traditional gender roles. So a conservative politician said, well lets create a use it or lose it policy for men and so that men have to take a care giving leave. So that mothers would get three months of paid leave, fathers would get three months of paid leave and then the family would have three months to share. And the catch was, if the father did not take that leave, the family lost the time. So then what happened is that policy began to change culture. Because then to be a good father, the conversation wasnt like, oh, you better not take leave. Like frank was saying. The conversation became, what you are not you are going to just give up that three months . What a te terrible person you are. So as a father you have to take that time. And in a few short years the Maternity Leave went from south dakotas to over 90 and taking the full three months of time. But the reason i bring that up is that that was not only important that beginning time, but what they did is they did a a study looking at the first three years of life. And they found that before they made that use it or lose it policy, three years after a child was born, the mother was still doing the majority of childcare and housework. Which is really true in all countries. And in the United States, even when women earn more money, they are still doing twice the childcare and sometimes twice and three times the housework. So that those gender roles are very powerful in every country. But what they found is after they made that use it or lose it policy, three years later more than 70 of the couples who lived together or were married were equally sharing childcare and housework. So that is a change in just three years. So that is why i think part of what we need to look at is much more universal solutions ab not just thinking about how to we get women into the workplace and how do we throw a couple of policies to make it easier. It will never be easier until we make policies universal. Thank you, bridgette. Do any of you are other panelists want to respond to the vice chairs question . I can maybe comment a little bit. So as i mentioned, so i just pointed out the kind of policy aspect and the perception aspect. So i could also reach the both aspects in my opinion. So like for me, like bridgette said, it is really important to make policy because policy can make people behavior and the peoples behavior can be can lead as the [ inaudible ] and in the long run we could also be like country culture and things like that. So when you make policy, i think we have to well design we have to think of a lot. I think so. So, like, so first of all to lets focus in terms of discontinuity, it is important to seek a job or gain for the woman but at the same time not to make her discontinue is really important. So like extension of parental leave or some other policy that they could ensure womens job stay ability. It is good and prudent factor. And then plus in terms of perception part, i think responsibility sharing sharing responsibility is again really important because men and women and dividing men and women and mom and dad, it is kind of gender it is not a game. So like, we have to we have to contribute, we have to spend money only for the woman, it is not [ inaudible ] because it is not a gain so we need think about long way and we have to think okay, what is the essential value that we have to pursue. It is okay, then lets say the whole happiness the biggest happiness of our nation, then if it is only for the woman. Of course not. It is for everyone. So plus it is a kind of im a little bit further thinking, but personally i dont think the gender is not the only center that we can divide divide people. I think so. So like not only gender, but also Sexual Orientation and plus we dont have to divide the people in gender or the Sexual Orientation also. Like, my [ inaudible ] was really long but i want to say is we have to focus a well designed policy in the long run and also the perception. Thank you. I like that gender is not a zero sum game. I think i might have to tweet that. [ laughter ] a hashtag can someone tweet that for me. And thank you again. Any other contributions from our panelists over here . We have some questions or contributions. Gentleman in the front. Yes. That is you. Again, you guys are probably used to this by my name is zeke mattis from jazz 70 and actually myself and my jpz japanese counterpart is nod faux [ inaudible [ inaudible ] and i was curious about work and family life and identity politics and that is important and typically if anyone is familiar with the sociological of adescribed status and stuff like that. They talk about how when you really identify with something it consumes your life and so peoples primary identity are worker or parent, man or woman, and i think that really informed the way that we do the way we create policy. So i was hoping you could speak to that, maybe how you believe your own identities have influenced the way that you go throughout your work, or family life or what we can do to sort of change it so that like you said, it is not just dike ott mus, one or the other, but both and. Thank you. Any thoughts from the side of the house in sn. I would be happy to address that. So im sure you cant tell byy looking at many, im an older dad. I have a fiveyearold and a 2yearold daughter. And i raised my hand saying i know my family life will take precedence because im looking forward to retirement and spending time with my girls as they move through education. And so i have really switched my identity from work to fatherhood and i dont know if i i think parents appreciate children when they come at any age but i will say that i appreciate i know i appreciate them now at my advanced age than i probably would have much younger. Now the flip side of that is my wife. Who is a was a diplomat in the Foreign Service. And so long story short, we went to korea, she was posted there for two years and then she was reposted to jakarta in indonesia and we decided i would stay in korea and she would go to indonesia and we have would have this jet set 21st century two career and i work the red eye flight from seoul down to jakarta and we had all worked out, on paper that looks fine until annabelle came along. And annabelles with mom and i was watching her grow up on skype and iphone and my wife had become a single mother, basically. And so this really wasnt working out. So we had to get the family back together somehow. And so by grace of god, i got recruited for this job back here in washington. And i was very worried that hyundai wouldnt let me leave early. And rebecca was pretty sure the state department would allow her to sort of take an early leave to come back to main stay here. We are exactly wrong. Hyundai was like, we appreciate your service. Go be with your family. And state department told my wife, you have one job in the state department and it is in jakarta. And so she was forced to quit and gave up her job. Not gave up her career, but her job to keep the family back together. And this is a choice dads never have to make. Almost never have to make. Right. And so the sort of substory, the undergurd of this all is the role that our faith plays in our lives. Now we believe as many parents, most parents believe that on paper, in theory, that being a parent is the most noble thing you can do. Right. And we say that and i know we believe it. But this is really affected our identity change. Rebecca saw herself as a diplomat first. Right. And then she saw herself now as a mother first. And that was tough because it was a professional itch that wasnt being scratched. And this is something to struggle with. But then we had tried to think about ourselves and work with those in our church and say, what we are is first is christians. Our belief is first. Whatever your belief may be. And that sort of helped pair away some of the secular concerns. That they could seem smaller by comparison. And so that is one way we have tried to deal with this very real thing that everyone deals with. Is it perfect . No. Once a year when the new posting comes out and rebecca sees her friends on facebook getting sent to new exotic locations and we are not, sure it hurts. Because that was fun. But it is the way that we have tried to deal with this thing. That everyone else is dealing with. Thank you, frank for that personal and passionate contribution. Let me look and see if there are other contributions from our panelists, would you be interested to hear from the student voices. So about the identity, i think that we tend to divide work and life like we tend to completely divide work and life. But my in my opinion integrating things so that if you completely divide work and your private life, then you will be very stressful to switch from one thing to another. But if you can integrate it, then it will it will be much easier to maybe you can do your job at your home, you could bring your kids to your office. I dont know the environment is is the environment is allowing you to do that. But if you could integrate it rather than dividing it completely, then it would be much less stressful and it will help you to understand or have have a more fruitful life. Thank you, erica. Any contributions from this side of the house . I can make one really small one. Just to the to the point of your identity. What is important when you look at some of the studies and weve been talking about how you divide work and life along gender lines. And they do tend to fall very along very traditional gender lines. And out liar and outliars when you look at samesex couples they dont have the gender script to fall back on and they have to talk and negotiate and figure out will who likes doing what. Who is good at doing what. And so they tend to have a lot less conflict and an awful lot more equality at work and at life. And so i think that for all other people, that is a really good model. It is to not make those automatic assumptions that just because im a woman, i should do this, just because im a man, i am supposed to do this. But really take time to think about well what are you good at. What do you like . What is fair. How do you divide things. And how do you have open communication. So i think that is a really important lesson for all of us. Thank you, bridgette. Now i want to look again to the audience for comments, questions, contributions. Gentleman here in the front. Yes, you. Yes. Hello, my name is roy lee and im serving on the 70th japan american conference executive committee. First of all, im delighted to see making assumptions about female dominated panel, this one as well as the one before. I remember the horror of american delegates faces when we were at a 12 people all male panel in japan last year. Was it a panel about womens issues . No it was it was a Workers Panel on crafts and industrial things. So but still it was there were no women there. Im awful interested in the Business Culture between east and west and bridging that gap. In the workplace. And to my observation, sometimes i think about this a lot, that companies in the west, we focus a lot on productivity and maximizing profit and that almost seems like an ultimate goal of a lot of private companies. However, companies in japan, im not sure if that is the ultimate goal, but this put emphasis on sustainable, keeping the Company Alive and also just establishing lasting trust. And the way that they do that is by showing respect and the way that they do that is through all of the these very to us, unproductive andin inefficient ways of rules and manner. So when the guy doesnt leave the office before his boss, it is unproductive but he feels he is doing the right thing because that is out of respect or manner. And so when you talk about bridging the Business Culture, do you think there are certain things that are completely just untransferable because some of the core values between the cultures are just so fundamentally different that things that cannot be or do you think that there is something that is transcending of culture and that this is universal to all workplaces or all human beings. Do you mind if i take this. Please. Go for it. So the answer is yes, to sort of both of your questions. In that it is funny, after i was in korea for a while, i would sometimes hear myself say country when i meant company and company when i meant country. So in korea and in japan after world war ii. When you go to work for a company, you are having an active part in nation building. Who goes to work for google thinking they are helping america get better. You are helping yourself get better and maybe also your helping humanity Getting Better if you are creating a new piece of technology, fine. But i remember once my my team leader, Korean Team Leader with Media Training and he was being interviewed and the interviewer said why do you like working for hyundai because i im doing my part to make korea better and he was my age and grew up in poverty in the 60s in korea. And so i think now you are kind of on that Third Generation where younger koreans have grown up only in prosperity. And they hear the grandparents and maybe the mom and dad talk about this. But it is one thing to hear it and another thing to experience it. And so it made sense for my team leader to work his 12 hours or whatever. And i also think you are starting to see with as the prosperity has come, a bit of a fraying of the confusion generational respect. One of the things that is surprising to outsiders is that korea has a high rate of elderly poverty. And in a confusion culture it should be the opposite. Your parents sacrificed and give everything for you, they dont have retirement savingsba they spent to put you in school or a big wedding and it is expected youll take care of them. And that hasnt happened as much. That is starting to change a bit as prosperity has come. Now, one of the biggest mistakes i made at hyundai after about a month and a couple of junior koreans said sir, we have a problem, we dont know what to call you. If you are a korean we could call you aarons director because that is what you call your last time and title, but we dont know if you want to be called that. And i made a big mistake by saying call me frank. Huge mistake. Because in the west, were taught to sort of flatten the structure. My korean coworkers couldnt believe that at the Washington Post there were three levels between me and the boss and i called him marcus. And so when i said call me frank, two bad things happened. First off, they didnt want to call me frank. They felt auck awkward doing it but then some members of my team felt they were on a lower status team because the bosses wanted to be called by the last name and title. So i dragged my team member status down. So the concept of status is so important. Right. And is that should that be transferable . Unclear. And it doesnt answer your question. I think that a Korean Company will continue to be great if it maintains an essential koreanness. At the same time, adopting Global Standards on boilerplates like accounting and communications and things like that, i think that is really important, especially in an increasingly homogenous market place, it is important for brand value. And so i would love to see a little more formality in the western workplace. A little more respect for senior positions or for for experience, right. But at the same time, i would like to see more productivity we would see i would see things that we would call waste. Any time one time at a auto show it looks like the vice chair would come and you dont know if he will come until he shows up. And he was coming and it was not suitable enough to watch the auto show and so they rearranged the stage to get him the right seat and he didnt come because he had to go and do something more important. So that is waste but also respect. Right. And so how do you square those two things. At the same time, hyundai had a nice run at being despite this waste has been successful. So it is sort of making me wonder what would happen if they get more wind in their sails. So there are things that could be transferred and probably should be from tide from to side. Thank you, frank. Should i call you aaron you could call me [ inaudible ] part of my name and vp. I said that is something my wife would call me. It sounds cute. [ laughter ] any other contributions from our panelists . Probably i can make a little bit of comment. So there is a very personal experiences about some like some culture or feature or those are could be transferable if you [ inaudible ] is like that. But it does not mean, oh, yeah, why not. It is really easy. Lets do. That i could call you but it does not mean i can call you bridgette, lets hang out. I could not say that. And plus then i think about the korean culture which is really high [ inaudible ] culture so it is not it is less until until december 31st, i have to go to work, so i work at a cavy. At was hardware. I work like six hours and it was really busy and i made a lot a thousand shots of of american, things and a lot. It was really hard work. And the funny thing was it was a small cafe but the system was really high [ inaudible ]. So i asked something to my boss, boss, boss, boss, so at the first time i went to my workplace there was no break time at all. But in korea, if you work like more than six hours, then you have to break you have to get break time like one hour. But at the first time there wasnt. So i was really uncomfortable because it is a really hard but at the same time, it is really hard to say to my boss, because of the kind of i have to read and also i dont know what if you just fire me and just hire another one. Things like that. But there was a kind of moderator and he respected under of th of the the under employees and at the bottom level and he said i assume you know there is a polite version to Say Something in japan and also in korea. But it is korean and japanese things and also it is really important in our country because it can be shown i respect you. And im below you, but im under you, but of course it does mot mean you can do whatever you want. But it is a kind of i respect youch and all of the time, even though hes much older than me, hes his position is much higher than me, he just is polite to call me or he was he was really good moderator and he asked my situation to his boss with like very gently and very softly. And then i got the chance to break after he mentioned it to his boss. So for this my own experiences, i can i want to say, if there is a good moderator or if they kind of or a chance or timing, it is time to change, then we of course can make a change. I think so. But at the same time, it is a it is a little bit it is a kind of it is a little bit sad because in this we need we need something. It is not like natural. It is not like easy. So maybe i can like add my personal opinion so we can be just just open our eyes analysten to other voice and and listen to another voice and make a better atmosphere at least around me. Thank you. Any other contribution from our panelists. May i comment. Erica. So there are many s kn you know there are many Foreign Companies in japan and also many Japanese Companies in foreign country. And i think that they can have the Foreign Companies in japan, they can have a different norms and work styles, but being in japan, so i want to say that because they are foreign people or because they are we cant say that they are Foreign Company or a Foreign Company are simply because they are a foreign people or Foreign Company, but we can experiment and provide a market of values for us to learn and to selectively engage in it. So we could we dont have to divide the western style and the japanese style or maybe korean style. But maybe we can mix if and maybe we can try to understand what both sides and even if it is difficult for us to, like, um, understand about sides and mix and try to make try to take the good from both cultures and sides. Thank you so much. So we are running very short on time. So i will take one more audience contribution and then to our panelists, i will ask them in their response to provide any concluding remarks. This is such a difficult decision. There are so many. Lets see, the woman in the second row with her handheld very, very high. [ laughter ] thank you so much. My name issisho curry, [ inaudible ] and thank you for giving me an opportunity to let me ask you a question. And so im thinking about my future plans, i always start struggle with the idea that although it is always important to education Younger Generation because we are willing to be the future leaders, as we are gathering together here now. But in reality, we cannot change our Current Situation in any moment because it is not us that is leading this world at this very moment. And it will take 20 years or more to be able to dedicate to change the situation by bringing new ideas from us. It could take more in japan or south korea to let us do this where it is seniority based society. So but people sometimes are afraid of accepting accepting the new ideas and i cannot say everyone else is liberal or flexible. But my question is, how do you think you can influence the upper generation, with the conservative prospective to change the situation or if you have poll i policy already in progress, could i hear that from the professional perspectives. Thank you. Thank you. That is a perfect concluding question. So which of our panelists would like to respond and offer concluding remarks first . Maybe we could start with you, bridgette. Sure. Would you be happy to. That is that is an excellent question. And it is a really good place to i dont want to say end this discussion because hopefully this will continue. In the United States one of the things that youre seeing is a lot of talk about the millennial generation. The millennials, they are the largest the largest generation now in the workforce. And i think that there is an awful lot of power in that. That this is a there is sort of a new wave, there is a new spirit coming through. And when you look at survey after survey after survey, work life, balance, Flexible Work, doing meaningful work and not not working yourself into the ground and to burn out is a really important thing for millennials. So i think that that is a real sign of hope. I agree that leadership is really critical in and that was one of the things would you mention in the last question. There is nothing that shows that you do your best work by burning yourself out and working long hours. And im really interested in how do you change the long hours culture in any country. Japan, korea, the United States, other countries. And i think part of the way you do that is redefine what good work singledigit h work and find the right metrics for knowledge work. It is not like manufacturing like where you manufacture a number of widgets and you are done for the day. And that will require thinking and leadership at the top and role modeling at the top. Because you are if supposed to stay until i dont know that that the frank talked about the fraying of the culure. The hierarchy is very powerful in japan and south korea. So that working and making copies of nothing just to show respect. What if the boss understood that everybody is going to do better, that the company will do better if the boss goes. At the pentagon during two wars in afghanistan and iraq, secretary bob gates left every day at 6 00. Because he knew that if he didnt, everybody else would stay late. So you can argue about the success of those wars, certainly [ laughter ] but i will say that there is also a movement in the policy department to work a Flexible Work schedule, to work an alternative workweek, if you work aid certain number of hours in a two week period you got the rest of the time off. And what they found is that their work got better. Because they were able to think more clearly, think more strategically. So in this era, i think leadership needs to realize that treat treat Strategic Thinking and innovation is crittal and that is not by sitting at your desk for 12 hours a day so leadership needs to understand that and then really i think erica mentioned this, finding Peer Networks and peer support and building on this youthful millennial spirit of wanting to find a different way. Redefining work and making time for your life. Create this network and i i cant use both of my hands, but you could have a pressure for change from the top and the bottom. Thank you, bridgette. And ji young, could i put you on the spot and ask for your contribution, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure. It may sound ideally, but personally i that i that so this time i could bring my own personal issues, but dont think this only is for me. So my my parents who is really conservative who is who have very strict gender role in their generation, so they want me to be a teacher. Just so the reason is, oh, it looks good for kind of like for it is a good it is a good job for looking good for everyone. So they could say easily, oh, my daughter is teacher, she is teaching, someones sons and daughters and how proud of herself. And things like that. And then plus because if i if i be a teacher he could get long holidays compared with the salary. And that is the main reason, not because of my happiness, but because my parents have wanted me to have a baby. And also to raise my children and then it means that i could continue more energy and my money and my time to my children. But actually, i am i dont want to be a teacher. I think it is just because im more active person. And i really like to make Human Connection and just hear and saying about my opinion. But my parents a lot of times, they say you are too loud or youre opinions are too strong. Why do you do that . And also i just want to say, oh, why . Because [ inaudible ]. And they are like, i want to say that, but i dont do that. Any way, so after i go to college, there was big conflict between my parents and me because they do want me to go to Education College because they wanted me to be a teacher still. But i do i really dont want to go there. Even though my score and my gpa was good enough to go to education school, but anyway, so i tried to i tried to persuade them and also at the front when i was freshman, they didnt they didnt believe that much, but time goes by and so more engaging and saying my opinion and i just proved myself, like, hey, mom and dad, look at that. Look at me. It is like how do you think it is really proud of your daughter. Because im here actually at d. C. In korea. With [ inaudible ], im proud of myself and they just accept, okay. I think you are the person who really likes your own voice and develop your own characteristic in influence much more impact a lot of people than teacher. So i think seeking more valuable things between older generation and Younger Generation is also kind of it is a good solution. It is really like long story and we need to we need time because peoples thoughts are it is hard to change. But it does not at the same time, it does not mean we cannot change. So at least we have to try. And i think we cannot [ inaudible ]. Thank you for those remarks. [ applause ] and director aarons. Looking forward to hearing your contribution. Well i just want to say, way to go, girl. And secondly, as a father, whatever you do, your parents are proud of you. And so please remember that. I think that in a country like korea, which is small geographically and about 50 million people, the Great Companies, samsung, lg and hyundai will continue to have an outsize impact on the culture and how things change. Government could make policies but it will be driven by the companies. And so right now the Big Companies are on the cusp of generational transfer. To the third or fourth generation. At hyundai is moving from the son of the founder to the grandson, is the guy who hired me and the difference is his father who was my chairman didnt really speak english. His son who hired me, the vice chairman went to school in the west, went to school in San Francisco and worked on wall street and fluent in english and he is the guy who will drive the change. Now i dont know if that means when he becomes chairman, hyundai will install a Day Care Center in the lobby. Though i think they should. But i certainly believe that change will wom will come ande generational change will happen at samsung and lg and all of the Great Companies and that will lead the change. I mean, was it recently in japan they said one friday a month you could leave work at 4 00. Oh, yeah. Right. But it is something, right. It was only a couple of years before when i got to korea that they stopped saturday work. And so the government can do those things. But the real change, at least in korea, is driven by the big kpds companies and im hopeful well see some change. Thank you, frank. And erica, if i could ask you to wrap up our wonderful panel with your concluding remarks in response to the gentlemans question ott ladys question, im so sorry. Okay. To respond to her question, would you like to say that changing is very tough process. If you cling to existing rules or existing situation, then you dont have to do anything. But if you want to change, the situation, you have to have to get to your boss, you have find your colleagues to help you to change the situation. And in japan, i know that some Companies Executives may prefer to cling to the existing situation so that they could gain profit from the situation. I think the young generation should do is to have the strength to not change your opinion or your belief because it is because of like, the obstacles you have when you obstacles you have when you try to change a situation. Id like to share my own experience, which i had during my seminar at the program. Im a member of the Leadership Program held in tokyo. I had a very interesting experience of hearing the remarks from a lady from u. S. Embassy, but she first talked to us and what she said was like, i would like to finish my speech because i would like to the go back to the my home and meet my children. And i was very surprised because i thought that it is almost impossible to say such things in Japanese Company. And i took that well, the lady from u. S. Embassy, she was american, but if what if the thats the that kind of values to japanese situation. So what i want to say here is that we should not cling to the old situation or existing situation, but we should try to adapt or open eyes to other institution, other culture or maybe try to learn what the people from other groups are thinking. And we i think we should mix up and i think the Younger Generation, like the students, College Students have the strength to mix up. Thats my con atribution. [ applause ] i want to thank our panelists, erika, frank, jyi, and thank you to our students and supporters for sharing your time and talent with us here. If you didnt have the chance to make your comment or contribution, theres also the digital option, and finally to learn more i would encourage you to check out the books of our distinguished panel lists overwhelmed and soulman thank you so much for your time. If i could ask the panelists and everyone to stay seated for one more minute we have a couple closing announcements. First off, i want to thank our sponsors for their help again today, the sussex Peace Foundation and Korea Foundation. So since this trilateral started in 2013, ive been helping for a couple years now and im proud to see it have grown to the level it has. I think the delegates can be proud at what they accomplished today. One of the trends that stuck out to me across both panels was how much work it was going to require to navigate the policy and culture, both in terms of of culture policy and relations. So i think programs like jasp and casp are what we need more of. If you know someone interested, the deadline applications are still open. So encourage them to apply, from personal experience it is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. So i would like to bring to a close the fifth u. S. Japan bilateral conference, we hope to see you at future events. Thank you. If you have any questions, feel free to take a card and email me. Watch cspas profile series on White House Administration officials. This week we feature energy secretary, rick perry. Today as we market us producedly gi fied natural gas, as we sell our copy on carbon capture, being able to use coal in a responsible way to other countries, the National Labs those 17 National Labs are probably some of the best investment that the american taxpayer made over the course of the years because of the basic research that was done there and then the commercialization of that research to change peoples lives. Rick perry, friday night at 8 00 eastern on cspan, cspan. Org and with the free cspa radio app. This weekend on American History tv, saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on lectures in history, james brusard on the leadup to the american taxation. Well have a tax on paper, lid, glass, tea and well collect it at the ports. Nobody else has to be bothered. Thats that. Big surprise, more outrage, more anger and more fear. Sunday at 4 00 on real e america, the 1963 millfilm assignment iran. He learns ways to sustain himself in the jungle or arctic wasteland. He knows the alternative faced by the special forces man in action, adjust or die. And at 6 00 on american artifacts a preview of collections for the u. S. Diplomacy center museum. Benjamin frank, and arlis dee who are the first diplomats conducted these two treaties and this treaty of commerce was essential. It granted france most favored nation trading status. And the french were excited to be able to get into that economic trading war with Great Britain after the war was over. And this treaty would remain in effect for several years afterwards. American history tv every weekend on cspan 3. The Muslim Public Affairs counsel hosted a relationship recently. Policy differences between the obama and trump administration, immigration and the potential impact of president Trumps National security strategy. This is about an hour. You can start any time in 10 seconds. Hello, everyone. I am the media and Public Affairs director for the muslim