Seoul's handling of US think tank 'appalling'

By Kim Jae-kyoung

In response to recent government comments, the US-Korea Institute (USKI) has strongly criticized the administration for its underhanded attempt to gain control over the Washington-based private think tank.

In a statement sent to The Korea Times, Friday, Jae H. Ku, director of the USKI at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), said that the government's approach in handling the think tank was “appalling.”

He said that the administration continued to make “unacceptable” demands in personnel changes and operational rules.

The USKI is a private think tank at the SAIS partially funded by the Korean government through the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP).

“Of course, it is KIEP's right to stop funding USKI if they are dissatisfied with our performance,” said Ku.

“But the manner in which this happened was appalling. The continued demands for personnel changes and the operational rules they sought to impose were simply unacceptable both to USKI and to SAIS, and would be to any think tank or academic institution in Washington.”

The 12-year-old think tank, well known for the website 38 North that specializes in Korean Peninsula issues, will be forced to close in May, after KIEP recently decided to cut off funding.

Ku, who has led USKI for the last 11 years, said that the government's attempt to compare the USKI to the Korea Economic Institute (KEI) in budget reporting is not valid. The KEI is another Washington D.C.-based institute that receives funding from KIEP.

“This is a faulty comparison, as the KEI is a registered foreign agent under KIEP's control while the USKI is not,” he said.

“But this lies at the heart of the matter at hand _ the recent attempt to make the USKI structurally like the KEI, with KIEP having rights over personnel and operational decisions.”

The USKI has claimed that the government, through the KIEP, pressured the SAIS to fire Ku and Assistant Director Jenny Town, and to agree to a set of operational rules that would give them control over management of the USKI.

“The USKI has addressed KIEP's growing demands for greater detail in our budget reporting,” Ku said.

He stressed that in the past few years, additional details have been included as the KIEP has requested, and all follow-up questions have been answered accordingly.

“In fact, the budget template that we are currently using was provided to the USKI by the KIEP,” he said.