Join The Asia Foundation and UC Berkeley’s Institute for East Asian Studies for the U.S. West Coast launch of our groundbreaking report on North Korean refugee entrepreneurs in South Korea. Dr. Oassama Hassanein, a long-time supporters of refugee entrepreneurs around the world as Chairman of Rising Tide Capital and Rising Tide Foundation, will serve as a Distinguished Panelist, along with Dr. David Kang (USC), Professor Vinnie Aggarwal (UC Berkeley), and Mr. Dae Hyun Park (Woorion).

Seventy-five years after the onset of Asia’s Cold War, the world remains focused on the geopolitics of inter-Korean relations. Meanwhile, an emerging community of more than 33,000 refugees from North Korea currently live in South Korea; half aspire to become entrepreneurs. Despite the potential insight the refugee community could offer, there is insufficient data and limited understanding of their circumstances and specific needs. To fill this gap, The Asia Foundation produced a report on “North Korean Refugee Entrepreneurs in South Korea: Unveiling Korea’s Hidden Potential” to conduct a series of interviews and a landmark survey of 131 refugee entrepreneurs.

Co-hosted with UC Berkeley’s Institute of East Asian Studies, The Asia Foundation is proud to present this important discussion on the lives of refugee entrepreneurs. Expert panelists will discuss insights from North Korean refugee entrepreneurs and offer a set of strategic recommendations to bolster social inclusion and support refugee entrepreneurs in Korea.

This event will be live-streamed on Zoom with an interactive Q&A session.

Featuring

Kwang Kim

Korea Country Representative, The Asia Foundation

Panelist/Discussants 

Ossama Hassanein

Distinguished Panelist; and Chairman, Rising Tide Fund and Rising Tide Foundation

David Kang

Maria Crutcher Professor in International Relations, Business, and East Asian Languages and Cultures 

Director, Korean Studies Institute, University of Southern California

Dae Hyun Park

Founder and CEO, Woorion 

Asia Foundation Development Fellow

Moderator

Vinnie Aggarwal

Professor of Political Science; and Director, Berkeley APEC Study Center, UC Berkeley

Date

April 8, 2021(Thurs) 8am in Seoul time

April 7, 2021(Wed) 4PM in Pacific Time (US and Canada)

RSVP

Register to attend (Click)

If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) in order to fully participate, please contact dureste@berkeley.edu 7-10 days in advance of the event.