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The Korea-America Student Conference (KASC) is an educational and cultural exchange program for university students in South Korea and the United States.



Overview
Each year, a group of students from universities in the United States and South Korea spend three to four weeks living, traveling, and studying together. Students work to deepen personal bonds between the two countries through discussions about key topics in U.S.-Korea relations. The delegates collaborate with leaders in business, academia, and government on contemporary social, economic, and political issues that face the U.S., Korea and the world. KASC is managed by its student Executive Committee, composed of delegates elected to the committee during the previous year's conference. KASC also receives oversight from International Student Conferences in Washington, D.C., alongside its sister conference, the Japan-America Student Conference.

History
KASC was launched in 2008 as a sister program to the Japan-America Student Conference. JASC had already established itself as a model for international exchange programs with its over 60 year history, and the first KASC was hosted in July 2008 in the United States based on the JASC model. KASC was hosted in South Korea in the following year, and the host country would alternate annually between South Korea and the United States. In 2018, KASC began visiting both countries in the same year. KASC was held virtually in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and introduced a hybrid format for 2021, in which the students partake in a 2 week virtual conference in the summer, and convene in person in the winter of that year.

Program
Since 2018, the KASC conference venue is hosted in both South Korea and the United States every year. Over the course of three weeks, participating students visit up to 4 locations in the host countries. During this time, they engage in academic round-table discussions, cultural and social events, lectures and panel presentations, field trips, and community service activities. These experiences provide a foundation for mutual understanding, social awareness, cultural sensitivity, and an exchange of ideas. KASC also aims to form lifelong bonds between the Korean and American delegations, further strengthen diplomatic and cultural ties between the two countries.

In recent years the conference has attempted to include discussions of the rise of China as a major power in Asia by holding trilateral forums with Chinese students. Additionally, a new Korea-America Student Conference has been established to improve ties between the United States and its regional ally South Korea.

Roundtables
The core of JASC is the "roundtable," a subgroup of ten students; four from the Japanese delegation and four from the American delegation, with one member of the Executive Committee from each delegation to act as roundtable leaders. The two Executive Committee Chairs do not lead a roundtable.

Roundtable topics vary from year to year, and are decided by the Executive Committee for the conference. Roundtables aim to be diverse and cover a broad range of topics pertaining to U.S.-Japan relations. The 63rd JASC included the "Ethics of Technology and Its Impact on Human Life" roundtable, "Interpretation of History in International Relations" roundtable, and the "Comprehensive Security" roundtable, among others.

Delegates spend much time in roundtable groups. Aside from discussions and debates, roundtables also embark on field trips to locations pertaining to the roundtable topic. 63rd JASC field trips included the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata Prefecture, Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and Camp Foster in Okinawa, and the Embassy of the United States in Tokyo.

Forums
Each site also features a forum where delegates engage in lectures with prominent experts and professors in numerous fields. Apart from these forums, delegates also prepare presentations for two forums of their own – the Midterm and Final Forum. These forums are chances for each roundtable to present to the entire delegation the issues they discussed throughout the conference. Local high school and university students, as well as government officials and alumni are invited to attend these forums.

Receptions
Delegates also have the opportunity to engage in alumni receptions to network with past JASC alumni.

Delegate selection
American delegates are selected from all fields of study and will range from first year college students to Ph.D. candidates. Delegates need not be Asian studies majors or studying Japanese language because English is the primary language of the Conference. In fact, students of other disciplines are strongly encouraged to apply in order to broaden the depth of student representation. Applicants are asked to submit short essays, one longer essay, a writing sample, current transcript and letters of recommendation. Upon selection, delegates prepare a roundtable-related paper prior to the Conference.

List of notable alumni

 * Toru Hashimoto – Chairman, The Fuji Bank, Japan
 * Yutaka Katayama – Former Chairman & President, Nissan North America, Automobile Hall of Fame, Detroit
 * Kiichi Miyazawa – Former Prime Minister of Japan; Former Minister of Finance
 * Henry A. Kissinger, '51 – Chairman, Kissinger Associates; U.S. Secretary of State 1973–1977; Nobel Peace Prize 1973
 * Fulton J. Freeman, '34 -- Career diplomat; U.S.Ambassador Colombia 1961-1963; U.S. Ambassador Mexico 1964-1969