Hi everyone,
We’re excited to have our first happy hour of 2025. Feel free to share with others and hope to see you there! Please see below for details of our event!
Wishing you all a Happy Lunar New Year!
Events
Sejong Society Happy Hour- Save the Date!
Luna Hall DC
625 H St NW Unit 103,
Washington, DC 20001
Thursday, Feb 13, 2025, 6:00 PM- 8:00 PM
Foreign Policy Priorities in the Indo-Pacific for the Trump Administration- Save the Date!
Hosted by the Sejong Society and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
Conference Room 401-D
901 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20001
Wednesday, February 25 from 6:00pm- 8:00pm
*Limited space so RSVP is required
News
AI in South Korea: Deepseek vs. OpenAI
Venesia Delancy
Several of South Korea’s ministries have temporarily blocked employee access to Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek due to growing security concerns over the app’s possible spyware. Both the defense and foreign ministries have noted that the restriction was imposed to protect access to military intel and external networks, aligning with a growing trend in foreign governments restricting access to the Chinese AI platform. Amidst growing suspicions of the software, the South Korean Personal Information Protection Committee has announced their intent to request additional information on the model’s management of user data within the coming weeks.
Deepseek’s debut onto the international stage caused an immediate uproar within the U.S. stock market; the company released its R1 reasoning model on January 20th and was met with interest among U.S. investors, causing a subsequent 3% drop in NASDAQ’s stock. Claiming that its AI model was trained “at a fraction of the cost” and on less-advanced Nvidia chips”, Deepseek’s assertions have forced investors to question the efficiency of current U.S. AI software development programs. While the true potential of Deepseek has yet to be fully uncovered, competitors have weighed in on the current model; the CEO of Google’s DeepMind AI software acknowledged that R1 was “probably the best work” out of China but did not present any “new scientific advances.” Alexandr Wang, however, has championed the model as “the top performing”AI on the market and claimed it was “roughly on par with the best American models. Given the mounting tensions between the United States and China with President Trump’s rollout of ten percent tariffs, the race for dominance in the Asian tech market has become an additional stage for the two nations to compete.
The competition has already begun in South Korea; while the South Korean government restricted access to Deepseek, OpenAI secured a partnership with Korean tech giant Kakao on February 4th. The partnership was formally announced at a press conference in Seoul where the companies expressed their plans to “integrate OpenAI technology” into products such as KakaoTalk. Kakao’s receptiveness towards OpenAI stands in stark contrast to its previous reaction to Deepseek’s AI software; Kakao released a company memo requesting that its employees refrain from using Deepseek due to security concerns.With growing interest in the artificial intelligence market, it is certain that both the United States and China will continue to face off in their pursuit of international markets.
North Korea in No Rush to Parlay with Washington
Daniel Mitchum
With a relatively positive history between him and Trump, it is likely that Kim Jong Un saw his preferred result in the US election. However, Pyongyang has thus far been fairly constrained in its response to Washington’s new administration in spite of President Trump stating that he would like to “establish a relationship with North Korea’s Kim” and that “getting along well with him is a big asset to everybody.” Such a sentiment is certain to be welcome news to Kim Jong Un. However, with no substantive change in Trump’s stance since the two last met in Hanoi, outcomes are unlikely to change. Washington’s restated goal of complete North Korean denuclearization was quickly rebuffed by Pyongyang, which responded that its nuclear weapons are “not a bargaining chip,” and that the country will continue to strengthen its nuclear force. Experts of the Korean Peninsula remain skeptical that any progress can be made and among the 40 experts surveyed by Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, 7 out of 10 believe it will be difficult for Washington to achieve anything concrete with Pyongyang.
There are other reasons to be pessimistic as North Korean and Russian cooperation continues. With thousands of North Koreans allegedly dispatched to work in Russia to combat labor shortages, the resumption of train operations between the two nations, and an alleged 8,000 North Korean troops still active in Russia’s Kursk region, Kim Jong Un is unlikely to be in a rush to speak with Donald Trump. However, Kim is certainly thinking about a world following the conclusion of the Russo-Ukrainian war and the implications of a Russia that no longer needs military assistance.
This Week in Korean History
In an act of arson, a 69 year old man set fire to Namdaemun gate on February 10th, 2008, destroying the monument. The gate was constructed in 1396 by the Joseon dynasty to protect its capital of Seoul. The gate, declared Korea’s number one national treasure after it was restored in 1960, saw numerous renovations during its history and was the oldest wooden structure in Seoul at the time of its demise.