EVENTS

Opening Remarks:

Tim Hwang is a multi-company unicorn founder, venture builder, and investor focused on building category- defining platforms at the intersection of technology and regulated industries. He is the Founder/CEO of Nitra, a healthcare financial and operating platform modernizing how medical providers manage payments, procurement, and back-office workflows. Nitra has raised over $200M+ from leading institutional investors including Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Sazze Partners, Pantera, KB Group (Korea’s largest bank), as well as prominent technology leaders such as Jerry Yang, Simu Liu, Will Smith, and Dunamu&Partners.

Mr. Hwang is also the Founder and Executive Chairman of FiscalNote, a global market and regulatory intelligence company that owns CQ Roll Call Group and provides mission-critical data, news, and analysis to governments, legal institutions, financial institutions, and enterprises. FiscalNote operates across the US, Europe, and Asia, serves nearly 5,000 of the world’s most influential law firms, corporations, and governments, and has raised over $230M+ from investors including The Economist, S&P Global, Mark Cuban, Jerry Yang, Steve Case, NEA, and Renren. At the age of 29, Mr. Hwang completed a $1.3 billion public offering of the company on the NYSE in 2021 after exceeding $140M of ARR. Through his venture builder / investment firm, Inauguration Capital, Hwang serves as Chairman or Board Member of multiple high-growth companies, including Amber (digital insurance for electric vehicles), Exponent (modern fintech for franchise operators), Vibranium Labs (agentic AI for on-call and reliability engineering), and Jericho (a next-generation cybersecurity company for the AI era). Collectively, these companies have delivered billions of dollars in value, built cutting-edge products across multiple regulated sectors, and executed dozens of acquisitions globally.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Hwang began in public service, working on the Obama ’08 presidential campaign at age 16 and later was elected to the Montgomery County Board of Education at age 18, where he helped oversee a $4+ billion budget for more than 22,000 public employees. Mr. Hwang is a graduate of Princeton University and attended Harvard Business School. He is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, a Trustee of the Greater Washington Community Foundation, and a founder of multiple nonprofit and philanthropic initiatives. He is also a member of the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., the Council of Korean Americans (CKA), the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle, and YPO.

Session 1: The Evolving Relationship Between the United States and Korea

Victor Cha is president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also a distinguished university professor and professor of government at Georgetown University. He previously served on the Defense Policy Board for the Biden administration and on the National Security Council for the George W. Bush administration

Dr. Cha is the author of nine books, including The Black Box: Demystifying the Study of Korean Unification and North Korea (Columbia, 2025). His newest book is China’s Weaponization of Trade: Resistance Through Collective Resilience (Columbia, January 2026) with E. Kim and A. Lim.

Dr. Cha received his PhD, MIA, and BA from Columbia University and a BA with honors from
Oxford University.

Troy Stangarone is a Non-Resident Fellow with the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology. Mr. Stangarone is also a columnist for The Korea Times, a contributing author for The Diplomat, as well as cochair of the Steering Committee for the North Korea Economic Forum at the George Washington Institute for Korean Studies and a member of the Korea-America Student Conference’s National Advisory Committee. He was previously the Director of the Hyundai Motor- Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy and Deputy Director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the Wilson Center. Prior to joining the Wilson Center, he was the Senior Director at the Korea Economic Institute of America. During his time at KEI, he was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow in South Korea, sponsored by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, and a Posco Visiting Fellow at the EastWest Center.

Mr. Stangarone also previously worked on Capitol Hill for Senator Robert Torricelli on issues
relating to foreign affairs and trade. Mr. Stangarone holds an MSc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from the University of Memphis.

Andrew Yeo is a Senior Fellow and the SK-Korea Foundation Chair at Brookings Institution’s Center for Asia Policy Studies. He is also Professor of Politics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Dr. Yeo is a member of the National Committee on North Korea. He is a two-time recipient of a U.S. Fulbright scholar award conducting research as a senior scholar in the Philippines in 2020 and as a graduate student in South Korea in 2005-2006.

He is the author or co-editor of seven books including Great Power Competition and Overseas Bases (2024); State, Society, and Markets in North Korea (2021); and Asia’s Regional Architecture: Alliances and Institutions in the Pacific Century (2019). His forthcoming book, South Korean Grand Strategy: Narratives and the Rise of a Global Nation will appear at the end of 2026. In addition to publishing in academic journals, his writings and commentary about South Korean foreign policy, North Korea, and the U.S.-South Korea alliance have appeared in major outlets such as the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The Economist as well as CNN, NBC, Fox News, MSNBC, BBC, and NPR.

Dr. Yeo received his Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University, and BA in Psychology and International Studies magna cum laude, from Northwestern University.

MJ Lee is a Senior National Enterprise correspondent for CNN based in Washington, DC, reporting on a range of human impact stories across the country. Since the start of Donald Trump’s second term, Lee has been reporting on the real-world ramifications of the administration’s new policies, including tariffs, the decimation of the United States Agency for International Development, and cuts at major agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Prior to becoming CNN’s Senior National Enterprise correspondent, Lee was a Senior White House correspondent for the network. She began covering the White House in 2021, and most recently helped lead the CNN’s coverage of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaigns. She has broken news on some of the Biden administration’s most consequential policy decisions, including those related to the Israel-Hamas war, the nationwide baby formula shortage, the White House’s student loan debt forgiveness plan and public health emergencies like monkeypox and COVID.

Lee was part of the CNN team that won an Emmy Award in 2024 for its breaking news coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Lee was previously based in CNN’s New York bureau and covered the 2020 presidential election as a political correspondent for the network, focusing on Elizabeth Warren’s campaign during the primaries before reporting on Biden’s general election campaign and the transition. She has also covered the national #MeToo movement – particularly, its implications on Capitol Hill and in government – and broke news on major misconduct allegations involving elected officials and political figures.

Before joining CNN in 2015, Lee was a finance and politics reporter at Politico. She was born in South Korea and grew up in Hong Kong, and has a bachelor’s degree in government and Chinese from Georgetown University. She is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association and is currently based in Washington, DC, where she lives with her husband Alex, children Penelope and Jamie and dog Bandit.

Session 2: The Future of Access to Health, Bridging Gaps, and Building Systems

Simona C. Kwon, DrPH, MPH is a professor, director of the Section for Health Equity, and the vice chair for Departmental Development Engagement & Culture in the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Dr. Kwon is a socio-behavioral epidemiologist with extensive experience in the use of, among other methods, community-based participatory research, mixed methods approaches, health communication, dissemination and implementation science, and multidisciplinary teams to address community-level health disparities.

Dr. Kwon employs a social determinants of health framework to implement and evaluate evidence-based strategies in community settings, focusing on cultural relevance and impact and identifying effective channels through which to translate research into practice. Dr. Kwon holds a Masters degree from Yale University and a doctorate from Columbia University.

Juliet K. Choi is president and CEO of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum,
a national health justice organization with a mission to achieve health equity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities through law, policy and practice. She is an accomplished cross-sector leader and coalition builder who specializes in change management, particularly in the areas of immigration, civil rights, healthcare and disaster relief. A senior executive, she served in the Obama administration as the former chief of staff of two federal agencies: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to her political appointments, her tenure includes leading disaster relief operations and strategic partnerships at the American Red Cross, notable nonprofits and a Fortune 500 corporation.

The proud daughter of South Korean immigrants, she is humbled to serve on the board of the David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and as executive committee chair for the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition. A certified mediator, she received her J.D. from University of Maryland School of Law and B.A. in Economics from University of Virginia.

Session 3: The Impact of Economic Issues on the Korean American Community

Hyun Jung “Jessie” Je is Senior Fellow and Director for External Engagement at the Korea Economic Institute, where she focuses on U.S. trade policy, industrial strategy, and Korea–U.S. economic relations. She previously served as Vice President at LG’s Washington Office, leading government affairs and trade policy engagement for LG affiliates in sectors including batteries and electronics.

Prior to that, Dr. Je worked at the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) for twenty-four years and served as Chief Representative of the KITA Washington office, where she advanced Korea-U.S. economic cooperation and provided policy analysis on U.S. legislative and regulatory developments. Earlier in her career, she worked at Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, contributing to trade negotiations and policy development, including FTAs.

Dr. Je is an author of Public and Private Relationship in Trade Policy-making (World Scientific, 2018). She received a BA, an MA in Political Science and International Relations, and a PhD in International Studies from Seoul National University.

Harold Kim Principal-in-Charge of the Office of Government Affairs and Public Policy at KPMG LLP, where he leads the firm’s strategic corporate, regulatory, and government affairs agenda, drives stakeholder engagement, and oversees policy intelligence, political risk, and compliance. Before joining KPMG in October 2025, Mr. Kim held senior roles at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, including as Chief Legal Officer, Acting General Counsel, and President of the Institute for Legal Reform.

Earlier in his career, he served as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, where he was the President’s liaison to the United States Senate on nationalsecurity, judiciary, civil justice reform, intellectual property, and Congressional oversight matters.Mr. Kim also served as counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, deputy chief counsel to thelate ranking member Arlen Specter, and senior committee counsel for then-Chairman OrrinHatch. Prior to government service, Mr. Kim was a senior litigation associate at the Washington,DC-based law firm of Patton Boggs, LLP.

He holds a J.D. from the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in political science and government from U.C. Irvine.

Martin Kim is the Director of Immigration Advocacy at Advancing Justice | AAJC, where he advocates for a fairer immigration system by developing public policy research, strategies, and analysis and by engaging with key legislative and executive stakeholders.

Martin previously worked as the Deputy Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, leading work on issues related to the intersection of the criminal legal system and immigration law, access to health care, and access to education.

Martin holds a J.D. from NYU Law, and is admitted to practice law in New York State and Washington, DC. Before law school, Martin received a B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University.

Sang H. Lee is the Council President of the Borough of Palisades Park in New Jersey. She was first elected to the City Council position in a special election in 2023 and was reelected to a full term in 2024. Outside of public office, Councilmember Lee works in M&A tax advisory in the private sector.

Palisades Park is a New Jersey town where over 50% of the population is of Korean American descent. She became involved in local politics to give a stronger voice to Korean Americans, who remain underrepresented in leadership despite being the town’s majority. She aspires to see more Korean Americans in leadership roles across both the public and private sectors and believes in the power of community coming together around important causes.

Nils Wollesen Osterberg is a Fellow & Economic Policy Associate at the Korea Economic Institute of America. Before joining KEI, Mr. Wollesen Osterberg worked at Ipsos Public Affairs and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, applying his econometric skills to a wide range of research areas such as public opinion, data modeling, policy evaluation, and international trade policy. His other areas of experience include working on campaigns as an economic policy advisor and providing policy research to inform policymakers at the OECD and the EU to support the transatlantic trade and investment as well as the global value chains initiative. He received a B.S. in Applied Economics from Cornell University and M.I.A. from Columbia University with a focus on international finance and economic policy and his areas of research are U.S. economic policy toward Korea, international trade and finance, and macroeconomic and geoeconomic analyses.