North Korea Forum

Program Summary | Forum Instructors | Prospective Clients |

Schedule | Fee | Transportation & Lodging |Application

Application Deadline: Monday, April 14

The mission of the Forum is to educate influential individuals in the United States with the goal of improving the quality and quantity about the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) that is available to the global citizenry. The forum will wage a campaign against the paucity of information that has characterized public discourse with regard to the DPRK by targeting three groups of individuals:

• By educating members of the media, it will enhance the quality of the information reaching the citizenry;
• By educating policymakers, it will increase the scope and effectiveness of their policy options;
• By educating members of the academic community, it will aid in the preparation of tomorrow’s media professionals and policymakers.
  

Program Summary

The Forum will be a five-day intensive immersion consisting of both seminar-type classes and panel discussion fora. The program will be directed by expert scholars with firsthand knowledge of the DPRK, drawn from around the world. All facets of the DPRK will be covered in-depth, including its politics, culture, social structure, domestic and foreign policy, history, and economics.

Forum Instructors

April 2008 Forum Instructors

Dr. Bruce Cumings
Norman and Edna Freehling Professor of History
The University of Chicago, Chicago

Dr. Rüdiger Frank
University of Vienna, East Asian Institute
Vienna, Austria

Dr. Geir Helgesen
Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
Copenhagen, Denmark

Dr. Han Park
Center for the Study of Global Issues
The University of Georgia, Athens

Dr. Alexander Zhebin
The Institute of Far Eastern Studies
Moscow, Russia

Prospective Clients

• Policy Makers
• Media Professionals
• Academic Professional
• Business Professional

Schedule

The forum will be held in Athens, GA at the Hilton Garden Inn in the Azalea meeting room and will commence on Monday April 21, 2008 and will end on Saturday April 26, 2008.

Sunday, April 20: Arrival

Monday, April 21: Dr. Cumings, North Korean History - Evening Welcome Reception

Tuesday, April 22: Dr. Park, Culture and Ideology of North Korea

Wednesday, April 23: Dr. Frank, Economy of North Korea

Thursday, April 24: Dr. Zhebin, North Korean Foreign Policy

Friday, April 25: Dr. Helgesen, Politics of North Korea - Evening Reception

Saturday, April 26: Wrap-up Session

Sunday, April 27: Departure

Fee Information

The fee for the first NKI seminar this April is $1,000 per person. The fee will be used to help defray program costs and excludes transportation, lodging, and meals. For your convenience, hotel rooms have been held at the Holiday Inn Athens. Please see "Transportation and Lodging" for more information.

Transportation and Lodging

Transportation

Upon your arrival at the Atlanta International Airport, you may reach Athens via the following ways:

• Triple A (AAA) Bus Service (Toll Free Number 1-800-354-7874) - the fare is $45.00 one-way. The shuttle leaves Atlanta at various times during the day. It takes approximately 1-1/2 hours to arrive in Athens after leaving the airport. In Atlanta, follow the signs to "Ground Transportation." Once outside, follow the signs to "Non-Metro Buses." Passengers board from "Ground Transportation-Non-Metro Buses" and should look for small vans with "AAA' on the sides. Stopping points in Athens are the Marriott, Ramada Inn, Holiday Inn, and at the Georgia Center.
• Take a taxicab to the Atlanta Greyhound Bus station ($14.00-$20.00), and then the Greyhound Bus to Athens ($12.00 plus tax). Check with the taxi driver on the fare before departing.

If you need to stay overnight near the Atlanta Airport, the least expensive hotels are the Red Roof Inn (404) 209-1800 and the Fairfield Inn 1-800-359-4827. One night at the Red Roof Inn costs approximately $80.00 and includes transportation from the airport. One night at the fairfield Inn costs approximately $70.00 and includes transportation from and to the airport. You make arrangements for your free ride by calling the hotel on the courtesy phone in the terminal.

You may also fly to the Athens Ben Epps Airport, less than 4 miles from downtown. The Athens Holiday Inn offers complementary airport pick-up. Please see information below on the Holiday Inn Athens.

Lodging

Holiday Inn Athens
197 E. Broad Street
Athens, Georgia 30601
Hotel Front Desk: 1-706-549-4433    
Hotel Fax: 1-706-548-3031
www.hi-athens.com

Located in the heart of vibrant Downtown Athens, Georgia, travelers will immediately appreciate the well-appointed amenities of this outstanding full service hotel. Only minutes walking from the Hilton Garden Inn and equally close to all downtown attractions and UGA, the Holiday Inn Athens central location allows easy access to all points of interest.

The hotel offers also complimentary shuttle service within a five-mile radius for all registered guests.

HOTEL RESERVATIONS

The Holiday Inn Athens is located at .6 mile/10 minutes walking time from the Hilton Garden Inn where the forum will be held. Please reserve your room by April 6, 2008 to obtain the group rate. Rooms have been held from Sunday, April 20 to Sunday, April 27.

Room Rates:

• Nonsmoking double standard in the exterior access Courtyard section of the hotel: $85

1. Rates are excluding taxes, which are currently 14%.

Group Reservation information :

• When making reservations, you must provide the code "NKI" in order to get the group rate.

Application

Please complete the following application form online and mail it or fax it to our center.
The application deadline for the April, 2008 forum is Monday, 14 April, 2008.