Professor to give first-hand account of release of journalists from N. Korea

September 4, 2009 Writer: Christina Graff, 706/542-5172, lawprstu@uga.eduContact: Andre B. Barbic, 706/542-5141, abarbic@uga.edu Athens, Ga. - Professor Han S. Park, the director of the University of Georgia Center for the Study of Global Issues, will give a lecture titled Conflict Mediation ­­ Personal Reflections on the Release of American Journalists from North Korea, discussing the role he played in last month\u27s highly publicized release of journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling. The lecture will take place Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 3:30 p.m. in the Larry Walker Room on the fourth floor of Dean Rusk Hall on North Campus. Sponsored by the School of Law\u27s Dean Rusk Center and the School of Public and International Affairs, the event is free and open to the public. A professor of international affairs in UGA\u27s School of Public and International Affairs, Park is an expert on North Korea and has made more than 40 trips to the country since 1981, a number that is unparalleled by anyone else in the United States. He has been referred to as the architect of US-DPRK [North Korean] relations by Donald Gregg, president of the Korea Society in New York and a former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, for his significant role in diplomatic efforts between the two countries. Park was born in China and earned degrees in political science from Seoul National University (B.A.), American University (M.A.) and the University of Minnesota (Ph.D.). More information on Park is available at http://hanpark.myweb.uga.edu . More information can found on the Dean Rusk Center at http://www.uga.edu/ruskcenter/ and SPIA at http://spia.uga.edu/ . #