Seoul told US think tank to fire 2 officials
US think tank now trying to 'keep 38 North afloat'
By Kim Jae-kyoung
The government pressured the US-Korea Institute (USKI) to fire two top-ranking officials and follow operational guidelines seeking to take control of the Washington-based private think tank, a USKI source said, Wednesday.
The source said that after the institute, well known for the website 38 North that specializes in Korean Peninsula issues, resisted the demand, the government decided to defund the institute, leading to the closure of the 12-year-old think tank next month.
The USKI is a private institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) partially funded by the Korean government through the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP).
In an interview with The Korea Times, a high-ranking insider at the USKI said there had been pressure from the Korean government to dismiss the institute's ranking officials who stood in the way of Seoul's attempts to control the institute.
The source rebuffed Cheong Wa Dae's claim the think tank has problems with transparency in accounting and selecting visiting scholars and interns.
“The Korean government, through KIEP, made the demand that SAIS fire USKI director Jae H. Ku and later its assistant director, and agree to a set of operational rules that would give them control over USKI management,” said the insider with direct knowledge of the matter, asking not to be named.
This is in stark contrast to the government's claim that it never requested the replacement of the USKI director and assistant director
The insider explained these conditions were unacceptable both to the USKI and SAIS and so they said no, and then KIEP defunded them with one month's notice.
“Complaints about how we report budgets and now the leaked budgets that I've seen online are distractions from the issue of the Korean government trying to gain operational control over a think tank at a U.S. university.”
On Tuesday, USKI Chairman Robert Gallucci said the think tank will close in May, after rejecting “utterly inappropriate meddling” in its academic affairs.
Founded in 2006, the USKI has received 2.1 billion won ($1.87 million) annually from KIEP, about 60 percent of its total budget.
“Due to the sudden loss of funding from KIEP, we cannot afford to maintain operations of the institute and will be forced to close,” the USKI official said.
“We will, however, be working to keep 38 North afloat, as it was only partially funded through KIEP. This is what has happened to USKI.”
The official stressed that USKI is not and never has been a Korean government institution, although it did receive grant funding from KIEP.
“We report according to SAIS standards, and in a format agreed to by KIEP. What KIEP reports to National Assembly, we do not control,” the official said.
“The idea that it did not meet the National Assembly's expectations seems to be because we do not report finances by Korean government standards, but American university standards.”
According to the USKI official, the USKI does not control what or how KIEP reports about the institute to the National Assembly, and its reports to KIEP have been consistent over the years and it has answered all inquiries into its operations from KIEP.
“The idea that again KIEP cares about such issues as who we hire as unpaid interns shows the level of intervention they were trying to make,” the official said.
“Additionally, this idea that we didn't focus enough on education is also a distraction. While we are at a university, USKI is not an academic program.”
The official pointed out USKI does sponsor the Korea Studies program at SAIS, but the institute does not have control over the academic program _ SAIS does.
“Our sponsorship of the program entailed paying for Korea Studies and Korean Language faculty,” the official said.
“We were constant advocates to SAIS to add classes and hire a professor, but cannot control how SAIS sets the curriculum for the Korea Studies program. Ultimately it is their decision.”
The source said it is unclear how the closure of the institute will impact U.S.-Korea relations but it could leave a negative impression on Washington.
“What it does in Washington, D.C., is to show the risks of working under foreign government funding, even if it's a traditionally friendly foreign government,” the source said.