John Park
John Park is Senior Advisor for the US-Asia Grand Strategy Program and Senior Advisor to the US Treasury Sanctions Department. Previously he was Director of the Korea Project and Faculty Affiliate at the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School. His research focuses on nuclear nonproliferation, sanction policies, China, and North Korea. He testifies on nuclear negotiations and sanctions before the US Congress, advises on Northeast Asia policy issues to the US government, and provides commentary on Asian geopolitical and geo-economic issues on CNN, CNBC, BBC, and Bloomberg TV. His research work has been supported by the SBS Foundation, Korea Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Stanton Foundation, and MIT’s Security Studies Program. He received his M.Phil. and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, and B.A. from the University of Toronto.
Ambassador Sung Kim
Ambassador Sung Kim is a senior fellow at the USC Korean Studies Institute. In addition to his role at USC, Ambassador Kim will also be Senior Advisor to Hyundai Motor Group and Senior Advisor to Bae, Kim, and Lee law firm. Ambassador Kim recently retired from the State Department and has a long and distinguished career in the service of the United States. Ambassador Kim’s most recent appointments were U.S. Special Representative for the DPRK (May 2021-December 2023), and a concurrent appointment as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia from October 2020 to December 2023. Ambassador Kim also served as acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs January-June 2021. Earlier, Ambassador Kim served as Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (2011-2014) and Ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines (2016-2020). Ambassador Kim was the first Asian-American to hold three U.S. ambassadorships. Prior to joining the diplomatic service, he worked as a prosecutor in Los Angeles, California. Ambassador Kim was born in Seoul, Korea, and grew up in Los Angeles. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania (BA), Loyola University (JD), and London School of Economics (LLM).