- Lecture Title: Korea's International Strategy

- Lecturer:  Prof. Dr. Wonhyuk Lim, Professor and Associate Dean of Research and International Cooperation, KDI School of Public Policy and Management

- Short Biography: Wonhyuk Lim is Professor and Associate Dean of Research and International Cooperation at KDI School of Public Policy and Management. He previously held senior positions at the Korea Development Institute (KDI), including Vice President for Competition Policy and Director of Global Economic Research, and was a CNAPS Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He also served on the Presidential Transition Committee and the Presidential Committee on Northeast Asian Cooperation in Korea. His work spans development, chaebol and state-owned enterprises, energy sector restructuring, and multilateral and regional cooperation, including contributions to Korea's Knowledge Sharing Program. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University.

- Event Summary: The KEC Lecture Series aims to foster knowledge on Korea to a wide audience by bringing together leading experts, scholars, and practitioners to share their insights on Korean culture, society, politics, and beyond.

- Lecture Abstract: As a divided peninsula in Northeast Asia, it is important for Korea to reduce tension between maritime and continental powers and promote international cooperation so as to minimize the risks of conflict on the peninsula and facilitate reunification. As an industrial democracy with limited natural resources and a medium-sized domestic market, it is important for Korea to engage actively in international trade and contribute to an inclusive, rules-based order both regionally and globally. Korea should not take a new Cold War as preordained. Recall that Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik was launched only a year after the Soviet Union's invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, during the heyday of the old Cold War. Instead, Korea should continue to promote international cooperation and contribute to an inclusive, rules-based order both regionally and globally. Toward this end, Korea should strengthen its own military, enhance the mutually defensive nature of its bilateral alliance with the U.S., and build friendly relations with other countries in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

- Date & Time: Wednesday, 3 June 2026, 14:00 – 16:00

- Venue: Seminarraum 2.2063, Fabeckstr. 23/25, 14195 Berlin

- Language: English

- Organising Institution: KEC

- Recording: The session will not be recorded.

- Responsible for the event: Seung Hwan Ryu (seunghwan.ryu@fu-berlin.de)