President Park Geun-hye, the first female head of state elected in Northeast Asia, visits President Obama during a crucial time in United States – Republic of Korea relations. Source: Korea.net’s flickr, used under a creative commons license.

President Park Geun-hye of South Korea arrived in Washington, D.C. for her first meetings with President Barack Obama this week. CSIS Asia House scholars Victor Cha, Mike Green, Chris Johnson and Matthew Goodman discussed the backdrop and agenda of the visit at a press briefing, which covered U.S.-ROK security alliance issues, KORUS FTA implementation, relations with key Asian neighbors China and Japan, and perhaps, most importantly the ongoing tension with North Korea, under its young leader Kim Jong Un. ROK and U.S. officials will not discuss a new 1+2+3 Civil nuclear agreement, for which the existing agreement was merely extended during April talks. Readers can listen to the audio podcast of the briefing here and read the transcript here. In a breaking development late on May 5, U.S. NSC Senior Director for Asian Affairs Danny Russel indicated that several long-range DPRK missiles that the U.S. had been monitoring were removed from their provocative position by North Korea.

CSIS cogitASIA has compiled a series of materials connected to the Summit and the Korean Peninsula including:

The Korea Chair’s latest Platform piece analyzes the complex challenges Madame Park’s new administration faces in Northeast Asia, prepared by recent transition adviser to President Park on foreign policy and security issues, Dr.Chung Min Lee.

Korean Democracy and Grand Strategy a page prepared by the CSIS Korea Chair with all their 2013 analysis.

Bonnie Glaser, a senior scholar with the Freeman Chair in China Studies has a recent report on Re-ordering Chinese Priorities on Korean Peninsula.

Matthew Goodman and CSIS Asia Teams’ publication on Crafting Asia Economic Strategy in 2013.

Sharon Squassoni, director and senior fellow of the CSIS Proliferation Prevention Program, has a detailed conference report covering South Korea’s goals and capabilities as a responsible nuclear supplier and its future challenges as a nuclear exporter. She has also penned a cogitASIA post on North Korea’s recent escalation and nuclear threats.

Dr. Seongwhun Cheon argues that President Park’s foreign policy is based on trust and describes the philosophy underlying Blue House’s approach to North Korea.

For those keen to hear the after-action report, On May 8, CSIS and the Korean Economic Institute will host a post-summit event with former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, which readers can find more information about joining here. Update: RSVPs are now closed, interested readers can watch a livestream here.