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History

The International Council on Korean Studies (ICKS)
국제한국학회 (Gukje Hanguk Hakhoi)

was found in March 1996 as a non profit and non partisan organization dedicated to the advancement of Korean studies and related academic and professional research in the field of Korean affairs in the United States as well as abroad through international conferences, seminars, publications, and other relevant activities. The Council aims to promote the significance of Korean studies and explore issues of the Korean Reunification among the professionals and the new generation of Koreans and Korean Americans.

1996-2000

The founding members created the ICKS by incorporating the “International Council on Korean Studies” in Virginia State Corporation Commission, and signing the first By-Laws in New York on March 1996. The Board of Directors elected Dr. Woong B. Lee as Chairman of its Board, Dr. Ilpyong J. Kim as President, and Dr. Hugo Wheegook Kim joined as Secretary General. The founding members tried to make a solid foundation of the Council in the first four years through the contribution of some thousand dollars of their own money and time. The inaugural conference was held in Arlington, Virginia in November 1996 under the theme of “Two Koreas in the World Affairs” with 28 papers and almost 200 participants, which was successful and significant. The selected conference papers were published in the inaugural issue of the International Journal of Korean Studies (IJKS or Gukje Hanguk Hakbo) in 1997, funded by the Korea Society. Despite limited resources, the leadership focused on annual conferences and journal publication through continuous funding efforts. In this period, the Council published the IJKS, one issue each year, although two annual conferences were skipped.

2001-2004

The leadership moved to Dr. Ung Soo Kim as Chairman of the Board of Directors; Dr. Hang Yul Rhee as Presiden t; Dr. Eui Hang Shin, Dr. Hugo Kim, and Dr. Soon Paik as Vice Presidents. Chairman Kim and President Rhee established and pursued three goals during their tenure: more commitment with Korea American society, financial independence, and a five year plan for conferences. The Council revised and passed new By-Laws with ten Articles at the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors in Annandale, Virginia in June 2000. In this stage, the number of the Board of Directors increased to twenty eight, and activities to recruit memberships and to raise funds were visible. The ICKS Website appeared in 2000 owing to efforts of Secretary General Ms. Julie JK Park with the help of Mr. Anthony Chang as webmaster. After two-year service of Chairman Kim, Dr. Youn-Suk Kim succeeded the chairmanship, while President Rhee continued his second term of presidency. The Council held annual conferences under the themes of “The Korean War after Fifty Years: Challenges for Peace and Prosperity” in 2001, “The Korean Americans: Past, Present, and Future” in 2002, “U.S.-Korea Alliance: Continuity and Change” in 2003, and “The Impact of the 2004 U.S. and Korean Elections on their Politics, Economics, and Societies” in 2004. Dr. Hong Nack Kim served as Editor-in-Chief and published one issue in a year but two issues in 2001.

2005-2008

The leadership moved to Dr. Hang Yul Rhee as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Hong Nack Kim as President, Dr. Soon Paik and Dr. Hugo Wheegook Kim (joined in the second term) as Vice Presidents, and Dr. Richard T. Shin and Dr. Kwang Soo Cheong as Secretary General. In this period, the annual conferences were held with the themes of “Korea and Major Powers: The Quest for a Nuclear-Free Korea” in 2005, and “The U.S.-Korea Relations in the Twenty-First Century: Challenges and Prospects” in 2006 in Washington. In 2007, the ICKS held its annual conference under the theme of “Impending Changes on the Korean Peninsula and the Future of U.S.-Korean Relations” in Hawaii jointly with the East West Center. In 2008, the ICKS had a joint conference with the Heritage Foundation and the Council on U.S.-Korean Security Studies in Washington. Dr. Young Whan Kihl served the IJKS as the Editor-in-chief, and published two issues of IJKS during 2005-2007.

2009-2012

The Board of Directors’ Meeting was held at the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington just after the annual conference in October 2008, by which the leadership was transferred to Dr. Hong Nack Kim as Chairman of the Board of Directors; Dr. Soon Paik as President; Dr. Jae O. Kang and Dr. Richard T. Shin as Vice Presidents; Dr. Kwang Soo Cheong as Secretary General, and Dr. Gwanhoo Lee as Treasurer. Dr. Hugo Wheegook Kim serves the IJKS as Editors-in-Chief. President Paik some young scholars on the field of the Korean studies including Dr. Uk Heo and Dr. Terence J. Roehrig to the ICKS board. Editors-in-Chief Kim reorganized the Editorial Board as well as the Editorial Advisory Board with several new members as posted on the web. New Editors-in-Chief Kim reorganized the Editorial Board as well as the Editorial Advisory Board with several new members as posted on the web. In four years, ICKS had its annual conference at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies of GWU in 2009, at the Korean Studies Institute of USC in 2010, at the Korea Economic Institute of America in 2011, and at the Sigur Center in 2012. The two issues of IJKS was published each year as posted on the ICKS website.

2013-2014

After the annual conference 2012 at the Sigur Center, the Board of Directors elected Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr. as President, Dr. Richard T. Shin and Dr. Kwang Soo Shin as Vice President, and Dr. Soon Paik as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, and agreed with that Dr. Hong Nack Kim remain in Chairman of the Board of Directors until the Nomination Committee elected a new Chairman to replace him. New President appointed Professor David S. Maxwell of Georgetown University to the new Editor-in-Chief of IJKS from the issue of Spring/Summer 2014. Unfortunately, The ICKS Annual Conference was held jointly with the Council on U.S.-Korean Security Studies in Seoul during June 26-27, 2013; andjointly with the Korea Economic Institute of America and the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea at the KEI in Washington, DC on April 17, 2014. ICKS President entrusted Reverend Hyunso Sohk of the Washington Promise Church to ICKS Webmaster by July 1, 2014, managing the ICKS website. Unfortunately, ICKS Chairman of the Board of Directors, Professor Hong Nack Kim of the West Virginia University suddenly passed away in July 2014 at his age of 82, so that Vice Chairman Dr. Soon Paik became Acting Chairman.

2015-2016

As the old ICKS (DC corporation) was legally expired its life, a new International Council on Korean Studies, Inc. was created in Virginia on 2/15/2015 (SCC ID: 07881535), and a new Board of Directors was formed with twenty members accepting its Articles of Incorporation and the old ICKS By-Laws. The new Board of Directors elected Dr. Soon Paik as Chairman; Dr. Jai P. Ryu as Vice Chairman; Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr. as President; and Dr. Richard T. Shin as Vice President for 2015-2016. President appointed David S. Maxwell to IJKS Editor-in-Chief and Won E. Kim to ICKS Treasurer, and Hugo W. Kim continuously remains in the Supporting Team. The ICKS Annual Conference was jointly held with the Center for Strategic Studies of the Georgetown University, the Korea Economic Institute of America, and the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea at the Georgetown University during June 24-25, 2015.

History of leadership

History of leadership

Period	Chairman	President	Vice Presidents	Secretary General
1996-1998	Woong B. Lee	Ilpyong J. Kim	Not Filled	Hugo W. Kim
1999-2000	Woong B. Lee	Ilpyong J. Kim	Hang Yul Rhee Soon Paik Hugo W. Kim	Julie J. K. Park
2001-2002	Ung Soo Kim	Hang Yul Rhee	Soon Paik Hugo W. Kim	Jacqueline Park
2003-2004	Youn-Suk Kim	Hang Yul Rhee	Soon Paik Hugo W. Kim	Jae O. Kang
2005-2006	Hang Yul Rhee	Hong Nack Kim	Soon Paik	Richard T. Shin
2007-2008	Hang Yul Rhee	Hong Nack Kim	Soon Paik Hugo W. Kim	Kwang Soo Cheong
2009-2010	Hong Nack Kim	Soon Paik	Jae O. Kang Richard T. Shin	Kwang Soo Cheong
2011-2012	Hong Nack Kim	Soon Paik	Jae O. Kang Richard T. Shin	Kwang Soo Cheong
2013-2014	Hong Nack Kim	Bruce E. Bechtol	Richard T. Shin Kwang Soo Cheong	Not Appointed
2015-2016	Soon Paik	Bruce E. Bechtol	Richard T. Shin	Not Appointed

History of leadership for annual conferences and journal publications

History of leadership

Year	Conference Program Chair	Editor-in-Chief, IJKS
1996	Ilpyong J. Kim	No Journal
1997	Ilpyong J. Kim	Ilpyong J. Kim
1998	No Conference	Ilpyong J. Kim
1999	No Conference	Ilpyong J. Kim
2000	Hugo W. Kim	No Journal
2001	Hugo W. Kim	Hong Nack Kim
2002	Soon Paik and Hugo W. Kim	Hong Nack Kim
2003	Hugo W. Kim	Hong Nack Kim
2004	Soon Paik	Hong Nack Kim
2005	Soon Paik	Young Whan Kihl
2006	Soon Paik and Yoon-shik Park	Young Whan Kihl
2007	Soon Paik and Hugo W. Kim	Young Whan Kihl
2008	Hugo W. Kim	Young Whan Kihl
2009	Dr. Richard T. Shin	Hugo Wheegook Kim
2010	Hugo Wheegook Kim	Hugo Wheegook Kim
2011	Dr. Soon Paik	Hugo Wheegook Kim
2012	Hugo Wheegook Kim	Hugo Wheegook Kim
2013	Hugo Wheegook Kim	Hugo Wheegook Kim
2014	Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr	David S. Maxwell
2015	Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr	David S. Maxwell
2016	Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr	Tara O