Tenth year of the korea chair and there will be a reception, a presentation and then another panel. We have three panels and an excellent speech by the congressman and then i think we can promise you some fun. I cant prove this to you, but i think something is going on. Our president is a beautiful letter, and tim 3. 0 gets an excellent fighter. The president also get a birthday card or letter from tim 3. 0. They are going to schoo seoul oe weekend and finally a state visit to the dpr k. It looks to me like we are going to have a stepbystep move towards the denuclearization. Im not opposed to that but the trick is how do you do that in a way that does not in some way fund your equity with korea or japan. So weve got to very carefully approach this and the panelists this afternoon will be addressing those issues had an awful lot or so let me welcome you to see sis with a warmest welcome to the ambassador and the foundation and i think without fear of any contradiction you are going to find a pretty fulfilling day and youll get one should as well. So when is that ever wrong. Welcome. [applause] thank you, ambassador. Please welcome to the stage the Foundation President , ambassador li. [applause] a lot of change. I thought i was in beijing. I like blue ties but i like bread also. Many familiar faces. Thank you for your kind introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to the u. S. Strategic forum, 2019. Posted by see sis and the Foundation First and foremost on behalf of the foundation i would like to express my sense of gratitude to all of you for joining today despite their busy schedules. My special thanks to professor victor and staff for their exceptional preparation for the event. Im also particularly glad that the chair of the Congressional Study group on korea found time to share his views with us today and im honored that i could receive him not once but twice in seoul recently. The foundation had organized in conjunction with other institutions in washington, d. C. For some years before launching the Strategic Forum in 2016 in partnership with see sis. In less than three years we have successfully petitioned the event to serve as a comprehensive dialogue channel between politics from the u. S. And korea for a discussion of critical matters that affect the common interest of both nations. Without a doubt it stands head and shoulders above similar events before the foundation annually. I have a personal attachment to this forum. In 2016 upon assuming office as the president of the foundation, i found t dont see sis to be tt part are with which to launch this event. It isnt difficult to come to that conclusion considering that the chair was already well established at the time. I sense participated for four consecutive years and it has always been my honor and privilege to have the opportunity to open the form and welcome you. This year marks the tenth anniversary. Congratulations. Through the establishment of the petition in 2009, we have initiated in the discussions in the. Of important policy research at every critical moment for the Korean Peninsula and northeast asia. For all this, my special thanks to the members and all for your dedication and hard work making this possible. The Strong Partnership chair will no doubt continue to play a role in the alliance to the next decade and beyond. When the first forum took place in late 2016 maximum pressure and strategic patients were still almost the only policy options employed by the u. S. And north korea. At that time i tried to convey a message to my friends got a window of dialogue should be kept open to north korea while maintaining our petition. I believe that the pressure without dialogue was unlikely to change their behavior. September, 2017 the second Strategic Forum was held during an exceptionally dramatic moment. Only two days before the scheduled date of the form, north korea tested a Nuclear Weapon which they claimed it was too early for us at the time to be sure if a detected Nuclear Weapon was really this bomb or if the test had been successful. The delegation tried to deliver a message that peace should be the top priority in any case and that it was time for the u. S. To engage north korea to stop their provocations. But for the trump administrati administration, it was still an option and tension between the u. S. And korea escalates until the games in february the following year while the foundation agreed for the forum to be held in the summit when it would take place it was scheduled and finally revived and was edited accordingly. It varied from person to person but its hard to deny at least the rest of conflict had been further reduced as a result of this meeting. Then came the summit which was tougher than what was expected. He kept it open for an additional round of talks and its taken to appraise the result of the meeting and to see his next move. In the meantime he and president of trump repeatedly confirmed their intentions of holding another round of meetings. According to the media in beijing, the chairman related during the visit last week that he had made several positive measures to ease the tensions that they didnt seem to have been considered by the relevant country. While it is not yet clear if or when the third summit will take place, president of trump keeps sending kind words and also recently signed a document to renew the sanction measures against north korea. Still, expectations for sustainable peace remain high as a series between the leaders of the republic of korea, north korea, the u. S. And china. I suppose professional analysis will be provided during the sessions today. Topics up into consideration including the summit between china and north korea and between the u. S. And china and a scheduled visit by President Trump. In addition to monitoring interactions between them it is interesting to note that they sent a message during the recent visit to scandinavia and in a speech to parliament, he urged north korea that if the measures were to be lifted, the country would need to prove its genuine intentions for peace building and to this he said what the members of the community for north korea are vital in building trust. He emphasized the importance of the trust between the community as well as between south and north korea and trust in the value of dialogue itself. The path to complete the denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula is never an easy one. Some of you may say it is an impossible job, but koreans believe that they could be and should be achieved with determination to strive forward unwaveringly and to overcome obstacles ahead. Ultimately there is no alternative both to live in peace. I believe they have learned enough lessons from previous best opportunities. The dialogue between the highest levels is an opportunity never seen before and may not come again if it fails this time. In the reconciliation measures they cannot be sustainable unless the relations settle in a peaceful manner no matter how limited to mediate or expedite the dialogue with the u. S. And north korea it will not be spared. Before closing i would like to once more express my gratitude for the efforts in preparing them to the participants from both sides who had to adjust their busy schedules to be here today. Please enjoy the conference. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you, ambassador. For the keynote conversation and address, i would like you to join me in welcoming the ambassador and u. S. Congressman of california. Please join me in welcoming. [applause] i thought i would open with a few remarks and then get straight into the conversation. One of the Dangerous Things is when youre in a room with folks that are smarter or have more knowledge on the subject matter, and youve got tyouve got to bl so i thought i would give you the congressional perspective of how we are looking at a longterm Strategic Decisions because when you talk about congress he set the bar kind of low. A couple things. First i do want to thank csis and the foundation for pulling this together but also for your exceptional work creating a body of knowledge we use in congress but also a resource for those of us on the hill. Thank you for that work and sustained effort. Let me touch on a couple of areas. One, i do have the privilege of being the democratic cochair on the Congressional Study group for korea. We have for study groups in congress, japan, germany, europe and korea is the fourth study group and they say why korea. The reason i think we have won this for the study group is when we think about the peninsula and the path forward, we know it is going to take a longterm sustained level of engagement and the reason i think that is so important from the congressional perspective is when you think about a United States president to think about warriors into the korean president to think abou you thie fiveyear longterm, and if we are to take a realistic view of this it wont happen in a single fiveyear term. It would require the longterm Strategic Engagement and again thank you to the foundation for being an integral part to allow members otwo ofour members of ca sustained way to get to know their counterparts in the assembly and to those longterm relationships because for me this is my seventh year in congress and its conceivable i will be there for a while. The best piece of advice i received when i got elected is you cant know everything and every region in the world but a few key areas you can become expert those relationships. I think about the peninsula. The ultimate goal is denuclearization. It wont happen by the end of the Trump Administration but its conceivable that a decade from now or a decade a half you achieve that goal and that is where congress is important and study group gives us the tools as well as t to welcome david ce welcomed the relationships so that is the longterm sustained engagement. The second piece is lets be realistic i dont think any of us to see as an immediate next step he says im going to get rid of all of my Nuclear Weapons and i also dont see as the immediate next step President Trump saying we are going to lift all sanctions but can we frame a longterm goal that is the longterm outcome. Its going to take multiple steps to get there. What is the first next step that will builfulfilled a little bitf goodwill because we think about posthanoi. I dont believe we could have a third summit dialogue between the United States and north korea and walk away without some sort of victory and it could be a small victory and first step but failure to and having another collapse could put the dialogue in a deep freeze and maybe not permanently damage the relationship that sever it back for several years probably until the next administration so that would be the second thing lets not focus on the end goal. Lets agree on what it is. Vvictor and i had the privilege of playing some of the South End Press but lets think about the first step is to at least get some forward momentum. The third piece is when we think about President Trump and kim, the dialogue is complicated because in most dialogue he would have folks at the staff level working most of it out getting to 95 agreement and having the framework of what the agreement is independent of principles would enter and finalized. Here we have two folks that want to be the negotiators and that adds an element on our side we have to have that same engagement from the staff level for the special envoy etc. And thats a level of complexity who is in power to lay things out and we see some of that turnover in their negotiating team but that probably has to be a prerequisite getting close to a place if we go into a third dialogue there are not going to be any surprises and those are the things that they can come away with selec the fourth piece pertains not just to the north and south by wal dialogue with e regional politics and the peace we are thinking a lot about is close allies in the region, korea and japan. I was there five or six weeks ago and from my perspective it was at a low point that i have seen in my term in congress and weve got to think about how we get these strategic allies on the same page with us so as we look at this engagement thats a little bit about how they are thinking about this from the congressional side we are urging the administration to take a bigger role to find a path forward with japan and korea and its a Place Congress has a role to figure out how this move that relationship or bring it to a better place than it is now. I will stop with that. [applause] we might need to bring out the bassett hound of diplomacy 150 characters on twitter. Thanks for the opening. I can tell youre a College Professor roots. You know the issue well and i would also say thank you for your engagement and many trips to the region. You make the point of having worked as a staff member in congress and being there for the long game but i would add it takes a strong engagement from congress and your leadership is to be commended, so thank you. Maybe one to start, a follo folp on your good oped entitled a small deal with any big deal and you outlined it a little bit at the top. You say basically it is infeasible and you then basically say in the first instance we should get a deal on the goal, disarmament for the sanctions and then take tangible steps in terms of trying to generate some momentum. If they give up a part of their program and then we get into the conversation. That is the crux of it such a followup on how you are thinking in congress to get the two sides to start this process that youve outlined. Writing for the next tangible step and i shared this with my counterparts in korea this is the kind of the republic to step in and continue a dialogue and keep that going. Outside of the platitude President Trump and chairman ken has been sharing my sense is that there isnt a conversation taking place right now between the United States and north korea. In the short term i think this is where j. Can step back and try to keep the dialogue going. I think timing is of the essence because i dont think we can go past the end of this calendar year without having a third dialogue if we are going to have a third dialogue i think our politics gets too complicated going into the election that the public also will be entering the cycle fairly shortly as well. Given that timeframe i think to jumpstart and move this forward to get the conversation started again this is a place for the administration to take the lead and be helpful. With a pickup on a threat that you identified in your last answer, an interesting one i get questions about in terms of u. S. Domestic politics and the elections kind of starting height and. Do you get these a lot and how much of a factor is the north korea policy in your calculation of you on the president ial race or the congressional side how many people ask you in your district and then just about south korea can you expand a little bit on the political side as well . Most of the American Public doesnt spend a lot of time thinking about the foreignpolicy and that is certainly a shame. I think the time they think about it is when we are on the brink of a war. Two years ago you saw a lot more about the Korean Peninsula when you were having the rhetoric and attacks dropped off of it now. My constituents when i do my townhall they are not asking me about that, they are yelling about impeachment and everything. So for me to explain to them why this is so important, why American Leadership is essential and in the context that we think about American Leadership in the postworld war ii environment. What we accomplish is remarkable. That 70 years is an anomaly when you think about world history, constant conflict between the powers and the fact that we won the cold war without really having to engage in that conflict was pretty remarkable. That is what makes america such a remarkable nation and we cant withdraw what we did on the Korean Peninsula stepping up to protect south korea. Remarkable. It may be different in the next seven years that the world needs american engagement and that leadership with our values. People get at and i think as we go into this president ial cycle, this is going to be about domestic political issues when you think about the folks on the democratic side. You dont have an announcement here today, do you . I was just making sure. Its important that we dont withdraw unto ourselves but we continue to be a world leader. Let m me follow the followuf leadership in the world, congress and you mentioned values as well. One of the areas in which congress has led started the bureau in the state department that covers this and the Staff Members became ambassador on human rights and bob king who is in the audience today. How should we be thinking in your oped you talk about denuclearization and about the process. How should we be thinking about these human rights in the context . If we want to be the world leader on human rights, we have to keep some of the tragic history of in mind. That cant be the starting point of the negotiation. I am a leader if you help Economic Development and health build an economy you start to address some of those human rights issues and im thinking about this from the perspective in the dialogue and the art of negotiation kind of using those principles you have to be able to look at the world from your adversary or opponents perspective and if im looking at this perspective, hes accomplished his Nuclear Capabilities right now and i think hes shifting towards the economic piece of it and a decade or two decades from now we want peace on the peninsula we have to engage in Economic Development and i think the south koreans get that as well. This is a roundabout way of answering the question while w