Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs to Discuss Korean Peninsula at National Press Club Feb. 26

2/24/2003

From: Pat Kearns, 202-783-4550, for the National Association of Japan-America Societies

News Advisory:

Speaker: Mr. Donald W. Keyser, Deputy Asst. Sec. EA/P

Sponsored by the National Association of Japan-America Societies in cooperation with its member organizations and the Japan-America Society of Washington.

Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 3 - 6 p.m.

Place: NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (Morrow and White Rooms) 529 14th Street, NW, 13th Floor Washington, D.C.

RSVP: JASW 833-2210 or jaswdc@us-japan.org

Reception to follow

On the eve of the 150th anniversary of US-Japan relations marked by Commodore Matthew Perry's first visit to Japan in 1853, the US and Japan are faced with challenges to their relationship on both the domestic and international fronts. Domestically, both countries are suffering from depressed economies -- Japan's having shown little or no growth in 12 years, and the US's stock market indicators less than stellar following September 11, the collapse of .com industry and reports from major corporations on slippery corporate governance issues. Japan and the US, security allies since 1951, also major challenges from instability on the Korean Peninsula and the threat of war in the mideast. How will this political and security alliance hold up under the stress of continued economic woes, military action and criticism from the US's other allies?

Q & A session will follow.

Speakers Keynote: -- Hon. Bill Frenzel, former congressman from Minnesota, Vice Chairman of NAJAS, and currently a Senior Scholar at the Brookings Institution. Frenzel serves on numerous boards, including the US-Japan Foundation.

-- Don Keyser, deputy assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs

-- Ret. Admiral Hideaki Kaneda, currently with Mitsubishi Research and formerly with the Japan Navy Self Defense Forces. He will address Japan's role as a security ally with the US and the current crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

-- Dr. Edward Lincoln, senior economist, Council on Foreign Relations and

-- Dr. Adam Posen, senior economist, the Institute for International Economics on the prognosis on the Japanese economy;

-- Wendy Cutler, Director for Japan and China, US Trade Representative's Office;

-- Dr. William Farrell, moderator. President, Dynamic Strategies Asia and former executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, on Japan's healthcare industry