Both conferences, on Taiwan, April 20–22, and Korea, May 18–20, will be sponsored by the Center for Asian Studies of the Richard L. Walker Institute of International Studies at USC. The meetings have been sponsored by the Center for Asian Studies annually for several years and will be held at the Adams Mark Hotel.

"Taiwan and Korea are both important trading partners with the United States and both represent potential trouble spots that have the potential of going to war," said John Fuh-Sheng Hsieh, director of the Center for Asian Studies.

"The United States has a large military presence in South Korea, and Taiwan and China are experiencing serious tensions," Hsieh said. "Both areas affect the stability of the region and have a huge economic impact on the United States."

Korea and Taiwan rank seventh and eighth in the top 10 countries that trade with the United States with annual imports and exports of $68 billion and $65 billion, respectively.

The Taiwan conference, which has as its theme, "Taiwan in the New Millennium," will review that country's 2000 presidential election; Taiwan's economic situation; relations between the United Staetes, Taiwan, and China; and the comparative politics of Taiwan and Korea, and of China and Japan.

The Korean conference, "Korea and the Four Major Powers in Northeast Asia," was organized by Walker, distinguished professor emeritus and former U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea during the Reagan administration, and Eui-Hang "Ken" Shin, a USC professor of sociology. It will look at the country's position at the epicenter of where four major world powers meet.

The conference will begin with a roundtable discussion by Walker and three other former United States ambassadors to Korea. Funding for the conferences comes from the Korea Foundation, the Institute of International Relations, and National Chengchi University in Taipei, where Hsieh taught before coming to the University two years ago.

Both meetings, which traditionally draw coverage from the Asian media, have been attended by American and foreign diplomatic personnel, as well as academic experts from the United States, Taiwan, and Korea.

"For scholars on Taiwan and Korea, the conferences represent rare occasions to exchange opinions and have become important events relating to the two countries that have impact on U.S. policy," Hsieh said.

For information, contact Hsieh (pronounced "shay") at 7-5322, or by e-mail, hsieh@sc.edu.