The United States and South Korea: Working Together for Stronger Security and Economic Success

For seventy years, the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance has secured peace on the Korean peninsula. As South Korea has grown into a global player in its own right—projecting economic, political, and cultural influence well beyond its borders—the partnership has grown to address the changing nature of security and the evolving regional and global challenges confronting both the United States and Korea. Join the World Affairs Council and the National Bureau of Asian Research as we explore this strategic partnership with keynote speaker LTG Xavier Brunson, commander, I Corps, and a panel discussion including former US Ambassador to Korea ADM Harry Harris.

Program Agenda

11:30 am: Doors open and lunch is served

12:00- 12:55 pm: Keynote and Q&A with LTG Xavier Brunson, commander, I Corps

12:55-1:10 pm: Coffee break

1:10- 2:00 pm: Hybrid Panel Discussion "Redefining Security on the Korean Peninsula"

Lunch will be provided.

This is a free program for World Affairs Council members. Please consider making a $10-15 donation when you register to support our work, which makes events like this possible.

Our Speakers

LTG Xavier Brunson

Lieutenant General (LTG) Xavier T. Brunson is the Commanding General of I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM).

As a General Officer, LTG Brunson has served in numerous staff and command positions in Conventional and Special Operations Forces. His operational assignments have included service in Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, Freedom’s Sentinel, and Inherent Resolve.

LTG Brunson was commissioned as an Infantry Officer upon graduation from Hampton University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.  He also earned a Master of Arts in Human Resource Development from Webster University and a Master of Science in National Security Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.

LTG Brunson’s notable civic awards include Omega Psi Phi’s Brother Dr. Julian Haywood Gamma Epsilon Founder’s Leadership Award and the United States National Park Service’s Trailblazer Award from the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument.

The following honors were awarded by U.S. Army Regimental Associations: Honorable Order of Saint Barbara (Field Artillery), Centurion Order of Saint Maurice (Infantry), Order of Aaron and Hur (Chaplains), Thomas Knowlton Award (Military Intelligence), and Colonel Eli E. Nobleman Award (Civil Affairs).

He is married to Colonel (retired) Kirsten Brunson, and they have two daughters and one son.

Adm. Harry Harris, Jr., former U. S. Ambassador to Korea

Admiral Harry Harris served as Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, from 2013 to 2015 and then as Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, until his retirement from the Navy in 2018. He subsequently was appointed U.S. ambassador to South Korea, serving until January 2021.

A 1978 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Admiral Harris was designated as a naval flight officer (NFO) in 1979. He commanded Patrol Squadron 46, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 1, Joint Task Force-Guantanamo, the U.S. 6th Fleet, and Striking and Support Forces NATO. He has served in every geographic combatant command region and participated in Operations Earnest Will, Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Willing Spirit, and Odyssey Dawn. Admiral Harris’ staff assignments include three tours on the Navy staff, including Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Communication Networks. He also served as the Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2011–13. In this capacity he traveled globally as the Chairman’s personal representative to the Secretary of State.

Admiral Harris has logged 4,400 flight hours, including more than 400 combat hours, in maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft. Prior to his retirement, he was the Navy’s “Gray Owl,” the NFO who had held this designation for the longest period, and the “Old Goat,” the longest-serving Naval Academy graduate still on active duty.

He holds a master’s of public administration from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a master’s degree in national security studies from Georgetown University. He was also an MIT Seminar 21 fellow for the 1999–2000 class.

Tami Overby

Tami Overby is a Senior Advisor in the East Asia & Pacific practice of Dentons Global Advisors-Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG). She is also a member of the Board of Advisors at the National Bureau of Asian Research.

Ms. Overby advises clients on Asian investment and trade matters, with a particular focus on Korea. Over the past three decades she has built a deep and wide understanding of the Asian trade and investment landscape and established a powerful network of government, corporate, and diplomatic relationships. This combination uniquely positions her to help clients solve problems.

Overby’s Asia expertise was first cultivated during her 20 plus years living and working in Seoul, Korea, and expanded when she returned to the United States to lead the US Chamber of Commerce’s Asia Practice. During her 8-year tenure, she grew revenue by over 300%, fought for fair trade and investment practices across the region, and helped numerous Fortune 500 companies navigate their strategic and operational challenges.

The scope of her experience includes policy work, high-profile trade disputes, stakeholder campaigns to support the passage of trade agreements between the U.S. and its Asian trade partners as well as market access advocacy and general investment counsel. Her bilateral and multilateral experiences include the TransPacific Partnership FTA, APEC, and the KORUS FTA.

Most recently, Overby spent four years with McLarty Associates where she quickly became one of the firm’s top revenue generators. In April 2022, she became President of Asia Pathfinders, a small boutique consulting firm specializing in U.S.-Asia economic affairs.

A graduate of the University of Arkansas with a BS in Business Administration and Management, Overby sits on the boards of The Korea Society, the Korean Economic Institute’s Advisory Council and as a Trustee of the US-Asia Institute. She is also the past President of the US Korea Business Council and the past President of AMCHAM Korea.

Dr. Clint Work

Clint Work is a Fellow and Director of Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI). In addition to his work on KEI’s publications and publication-related programs, Clint leads KEI’s University Outreach and conducts research, writing, and public engagement focused on US-Korea relations.

Before joining KEI, Clint served as a Fellow in the Henry L. Stimson Center’s 38 North Program from 2020-2022, where he focused on issues related to the US-ROK alliance transformation, led Congressional engagement about peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, and organized and moderated a military working group centered on North Korea’s evolving “checkerboard” threat. He also worked with a broad range of universities and state and local organizations throughout the country to foster public engagement on US-Korea relations. Prior to joining Stimson, Dr. Work was an assistant professor at the University of Utah’s Asia Campus in South Korea and the regular foreign policy writer for The Diplomat Magazine’s Koreas page. He holds a Doctorate in International Studies from the University of Washington and a Master’s in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and his work focuses on the Korean Peninsula, US-Korean relations, East Asia, and US foreign policy. He is currently writing on the history and evolution of the US force presence on the Korean Peninsula and the US-ROK alliance transformation in the post-Cold War era. In addition to his academic publications, he has written extensively for popular media, including the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, The Diplomat Magazine, The National Interest, 38 North, and Sino-NK. He regularly provides commentary to U.S. and foreign media outlets, such as The Economist, Time Magazine, NPR, and Arirang News.

Our Moderators

Jacqueline Miller

Jacqueline Miller has led the World Affairs Council of Seattle since May 2014. She held senior positions in policy organizations and non-profits on the east coast before moving to the Pacific Northwest. In Seattle, she also serves on the Mayor’s International Affairs Advisory Board; is a member of the Civic Council for UW’s Master of Arts in Applied International Studies (MAAIS) program; and serves on the Washington State Advisory Committee for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. She is chair of the board of Global Ties U.S and is a member of the Board of Advisors of the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations. She is also a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Prior to joining the World Affairs Council, Jacqueline served as Director of External Relations at Independent Diplomat in New York, working with marginalized democratic political actors to help them navigate the United Nations, the EU, and other international diplomatic fora. Previously, she was a Senior Associate at the EastWest Institute (EWI) in New York, where she created and led the U.S. program. At EWI, she focused on national security policy, the U.S.-Russia and U.S.-China relationships, as well as nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation issues. She was deputy director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Washington (DC) programs, where she oversaw CFR’s robust DC meetings program as well as outreach on Capitol Hill and the DC diplomatic community. She got her start in think tanks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where she was deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia program. She has also taught at The George Washington University, where she undertook graduate work after earning undergraduate and graduate degrees from Cornell University.

She has been a commentator for various news sources (print, web, and broadcast), including the New York Times, the BBC, CBC, and Voice of America. Her honors include being named a Truman Security Fellow as well as receiving a Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS) for Russia. She was also an International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) Visiting Scholar in Kyrgyzstan.

Michael Willis

Michael Wills is Executive Vice President at NBR.

He manages all aspects of NBR’s financial and business operations, including program and business development and corporate strategic planning and risk management, and serves as secretary to the Board of Directors. He also helps lead the Strategic Asia program and manages NBR’s corporate briefing series on geopolitical risk assessment.

Prior to his current position at NBR, he was vice president of strategy and finance (from 2016 to 2017), vice president of research and operations (from 2008 to 2015), and director of the Strategic Asia and Southeast Asia Studies Programs (from 2000 to 2007).

His research expertise includes geopolitics, international security, and the international relations of Asia. He is co-editor with Ashley J. Tellis and most recently Alison Szalwinksi of ten Strategic Asia volumes—including Navigating Tumultuous Times in the Indo-Pacific (2021–22), U.S.-China Competition for Global Influence (2020), China’s Expanding Strategic Ambitions (2019), Power, Ideas, and Military Strategy in the Asia-Pacific (2017), Understanding Strategic Cultures in the Asia-Pacific (2016), and Foundations of National Power in the Asia-Pacific (2015)—and with Robert M. Hathaway of New Security Challenges in Asia (2013). He is a contributing editor to three other Strategic Asia books and several other edited volumes on Asian security

Before joining NBR, Mr. Wills worked at the Cambodia Development Resource Institute in Phnom Penh, and prior to that with Control Risks Group, an international political and security risk management firm, in London.

He holds a BA (Honors) in Chinese Studies from the University of Oxford.

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