The U.S.-Korea Alliance at 60 Years: Looking Back, Looking Forward

In a special lecture titled The U.S.-Korea Alliance at 60 Years: Looking Back, Looking Forward, Ambassador Stephens will draw on her nearly 40 years of experience in Korea and her diplomatic career to place the U.S.-Korea relationship in historical context and discuss the issues that will define it in the 21st century, including relations in the region, North Korea, and global issues such as addressing climate change and promoting sustainable economic growth. Ambassador Stephens is a Koret Fellow and Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Shorenstein Center for Asia and Pacific Research, where she teaches and speaks on issues related to the U.S. and Asia. Ambassador Stephens served as a U.S. career diplomat from 1978-2013, achieving the personal rank of Career Minister. She was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 2008 to 2011. A few of her earlier foreign assignments included consular and public affairs officer in Guangzhou, China, chief of the internal political unit in Seoul, and principal officer of the U.S. Consulate in Busan, Korea. Ambassador Stephens’ awards include the Korean government’s Sejong Cultural Prize and the Korea-America Friendship Association Prize, the YWCA’s Women’s Leadership “Special Prize” Award, and the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea. Ambassador Stephens is the author of “Reflections of an American Ambassador to Korea.”https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ybminlectureseries/1013/thumbnail.jp