The Exchange Program that Opens the World to U.S. Participants

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /
co-author:

The U.S. participants in the 2013 U.S. Congress - Republic of Korea National Assembly Exchange Program meeting the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Unification.

For the past 21 years, Meridian International Center has had the pleasure of implementing the U.S. Congress – Republic of Korea National Assembly Exchange, a unique program designed to broaden the perspectives of Korean and American young people on the legislative process; the history of U.S. – Korean relations; and current economic, political, and security aspects of the bilateral relationship. Jointly funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Unification of the Korean National Assembly the exchange has seen over the years some 340 Americans...

Continue  

Experiences with the U.S. Congress-Republic of Korea National Assembly Exchange Program

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

Participants in the program meeting with staff from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Over the course of two days, I had the opportunity to accompany the delegation from the 2017 U.S. Congress – Republic of Korea National Assembly Exchange Program as they made stops around Washington, DC. One of the delegates’ engagements that impressed me the most was their meeting with Dr. Victor Cha, a senior advisor and holder of the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Of course, much of the discussion at the meeting revolved around relations with North Korea, but Dr. Cha did have time to share an anecdote from his time as an undergraduate...

Continue  

U.K. Parliamentarians Meet with U.S. Representatives through BAPG Exchange Program

Posted under: IVLP By /

MP's Angela Crawley, Jim McMahon, Ranil Jayawardena, and David Mackintosh meet with Representative Pearce

In 2004, a rising Conservative in the United Kingdom Parliament named Theresa May participated in the British American Parliamentary Group (BAPG), a Department of State exchange program co-founded with the U.K. Parliament in 1977 and administered by Meridian International Center. Ms. May and several colleagues traveled to the United States for meetings with U.S. congressional representatives to learn about America’s political process and its domestic debates, in turn sharing their perspectives on pressing challenges facing the U.K. and Europe. Continue  

Remembering the “Forgotten War”: U.S. Congress – Republic of Korea National Assembly Exchange Program

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

US Korea Blog Photo

On June 25, 1950, the Korean War commenced. On September 15, United States led the 21 nation-Allied Forces in valiant efforts to help South Koreans repel the Chinese-based communist troops allied with the North Korean troops invading from the North. Nearly 38,000 U.N. troops, most of them from the U.S., died during the conflict. The war resulted in a truce, yet the peninsula remains divided to this day. For South Koreans and Americans, we have familiarized ourselves with this version of the Korean War. However, many of us fail to recognize the most crucial part of the story. Thus,...

Continue  

Korean-American Exchange

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

Korean and American delegation during their first week in D.C.

As a Programs Intern with Meridian International Center, I have had the privilege over the past month of working on the U.S. Congress – Republic of Korea National Assembly Exchange Program. This program will send ten American students to Seoul and ten Korean students to the United States. During their time in their host countries the students will learn about Korean-American relations and about how the two governments compare and differ. The program officially began last Thursday July 7 when all of the participants flew into Washington, DC for a week long orientation and team bonding. Their experience will culminate...

Continue