Dedication to Diplomacy: Lives & Legacies in the Foreign Service

With one of the longest-standing partnerships in the Asia-Pacific, spanning more than seven decades, the United States and the Republic of Korea have built a lasting economic partnership and security alliance that has prevailed throughout a variety of challenges and shifts in administrative priorities. This alliance continues to remain a central part of both nations' security, economic, and cultural ties. What goes into building such an alliance? What is the state of this relationship today?

Please join the Nam Center for Korean Studies as we welcome two speakers for a discussion of U.S.-Korea relations, life in the foreign service and experiences at Washington D.C. think tanks.

The event will feature Henry Haggard, Former Minister Counselor for Political Affairs, U.S. Embassy Seoul, and Director for UK and the Eastern Mediterranean, National Security Council. He is currently a Non-Resident Fellow at the Baker Institute, Rice University, Senior Associate of the KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) and U.S. Senior Advisor at AMCHAM Korea. He completed a 25-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service in 2024, retiring as a member of the Senior Foreign Service, rank of Counselor. From 2021-23 he served as the top advisor on Korean politics and managed our bilateral security relationship at the U.S. Embassy in South Korea. Prior to that, he served as director at the National Security Council under both the Trump and Biden administration, coordinating our policy engagement with Turkey and the UK.

The discussion will be moderated by Ellen Kim, director of Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute. Previously, she was the deputy director and senior fellow with the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Southern California.

This event is possible through the support of the KEI's academic outreach program, which aims to raise understanding of the important relationship between the United States and South Korea.

Light refreshments will be provided during the event.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at ncks.info@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.