Exploring New Dimensions of Cooperation in the U.S.-ROK Alliance

Event offered by:
Foreign Policy Association
Republic of Korea Consulate in New York

Event Details

Date:
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM 
Location:
PricewaterhouseCoopers
300 Madison Avenue
42nd Street
New York , NM
Event type
Conference  

Event Description

Please join the FPA and Korean Consulate General in New York for our panel on Exploring New Dimensions of Cooperation in U.S.-ROK Relations. 

We will be joined by Kenneth Buckfire, Co-Founder and President of Miller Buckfire and Thomas J. Byrne, President & CEO of The Korea Soceity.

The lecture will take place from 6:00pm to 7:00pm on Tuesday, November 21st, 2023 at PricewaterhouseCoopers located at 300 Madison Avenue and 42nd Street. Please register with your name as it appears on your Photo ID which you will need to bring for security. The lecture will be followed by a reception from 7:00pm to 8:00pm.

The purpose of the panel is to explore new dimensions of cooperation for the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-ROK Alliance. We are looking to focus on areas of trade and investment between the United States and South Korea and any barriers that may exist. How can this relationship be strengthened? What challenges exist for Korean companies trying to break into the American market?

Please register any guests with their name so that a pass can be printed for them by PwC Security.

Event Speakers

    • Mr. Kenneth A. Buckfire - Speaker
      Co-Founder & President, Miller Buckfire

      Kenneth Buckfire is Co-Founder & President of Miller Buckfire. Over the course of his career he has advised clients in a broad range of industries (including energy, food products, building products, broadcasting, and information services). Kenneth has won numerous awards for his achievements in the restructuring community which have included The City of Detroit (Distinguished Service Medal of the Foreign Policy Association), the Harvey R. Miller Leadership Award, General Growth Properties (Mega Turnaround of 2010), and Calpine Corporation (Most Outstanding Mega Turnaround of 2008). He also advised 19 independent power producers in the largest out of court utility restructuring of $11 billion in power contracts with Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (“Energy Deal of 1998”). Additionally, he structured and implemented a deleveraging transaction for Faraday Future, a manufacturer of electric vehicles. He has advised numerous private equity firms including Oaktree, Apollo, Vestar, Forstmann Little, New Mountain Capital, Lightyear Capital, Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe, Court Square, and Oakhill. Prior to founding Miller Buckfire, Kenneth was a Managing Director at Wasserstein Perella & Co. and served as co-head of the financial restructuring group. Before joining Wasserstein Perella, Kenneth was a Senior Vice President at Lehman Brothers. Kenneth serves on the advisory boards of the Zell-Lurie Institute, Honors College and University Music Society at The University of Michigan. He is a past trustee of the Browning School, New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Orchestra, and UJA-New York Federation. He is currently a director of Purdue Pharma (chairman of the audit and strategic issues committees), and ProClara BioSciences. He is a former director of numerous public and private companies. Kenneth is a Visiting Professor at Columbia Business School where he teaches a course in corporate and government restructuring. Kenneth received his MBA from Columbia University and his B.A. in Economics and Philosophy from The University of Michigan.

    • Thomas J. Byrne - Speaker
      President & CEO, The Korea Society

      Thomas J. Byrne joined The Korea Society as President in August 2015. Since June 2023, he had also taken the role of “Honorary Ambassador,” appointed by the minister of MOTIE under the auspices of KOTRA/Invest Korea, to help promote trade and investment ties between Korea and the U.S. Byrne comes to the Society from Moody’s Investor Services, where he was Senior Vice President, Regional Manager, spokesperson, and Director of Analysis for the Sovereign Risk Group in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, based in Singapore. Prior to that, he was the Senior Economist of the Asia Department at the Institute of International Finance in Washington D.C. from 1984 to 1996. Byrne has an MA in International Relations with a concentration in international economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced international Studies and a BS in Biology from State University of New York at Stony Brook. Before his graduate work, he served in South Korea for three years as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. Byrne teaches as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York City and at Georgetown University’s Graduate School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. As president, he has written opinion articles published in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg View, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, The National Interest, and Reuters Breakingviews.