RESPONSE TO NEEDS

The Forum is a product of Ms. Janis Koh and Ms. Bernice Bowers in response to a need for disaster management technologies in the Republic of Korea in 1998, and has expanded to regional needs. That year, Ms. Bowers as Executive Director of a Hawaii non-profit organization conducted market research in the disaster management while working on a U.S. Department of Commerce grant to promote export to Asia of U.S. health care and related technologies. A resulting white paper developed for the U.S. Department of Commerce Service Industries & Finance section documented Korea as an export platform of disaster management technologies and services to Northeast Asia.

The grant partners and the U.S. Department of Commerce leadership supported a Korea market research trip in August 1998, for which Ms. Koh was hired as a Korea specialist. The mission coincided with one of the worst floods in the Republic of Korea in a decade. With Ms. Koh's contacts in key university and government agencies, the two identified tangible and immediate needs, policy receptivity, and support of career government practioners for a massive national program of disaster mitigation technology acquisition and training.

INDEPENDENT TEAM

In early 1999, the Hawaii non-profit decided to not pursue this project and to focus on general marketing of Hawaii. Ms. Bowers and Ms. Koh left the organization to build the initiative as an independent team, with the backing of U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye, several U.S. Department of Commerce officials, and key Korea government and academic leaders. In late 1999, the first U.S.-R.O.K. Disaster Management Conference was coordinated by the Forum and featured the Center of Excellence and other public and private sector agencies including the Pacific Basin Economic Council, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Maui High Performance Computing Center.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

A key aspect of the Forum's approach is the integration of technical workshops and events with study missions, social science initiatives, and cultural events. The annual program of work is designed with a multidisciplinary mandate to bridge policy-makers with related government and non-government agencies while offering opportunities for a deeper perspective of the region's history, culture, and thus, current decisions, priorities, and behavior. The effects of this approach have been very beneficial in creating enduring relationships and networks across national and institutional boundaries. The integration of social, technical, and cultural events has proven to speed up the process of building trust and a basis of mutual understanding with government officials and practitioners on an individual basis. This directly benefits efforts to link disaster mitigation and humanitarian assistance programs of government agencies and related organizations on an institutional basis.

PRIORITIES

In terms of technical workshops and exercises, the Northeast Asia Forum prioritizes disaster mitigation and humanitarian assistance through the sharing of appropriate levels of technology, policies, management approaches, and techniques for the region with experienced practitioners. Toward this end, the Northeast Asia Forum has built relationships primarily with disaster mitigation planners and practitioners in the Republic of Korea and the United States with additional contacts in Taiwan, China, Russia, and Japan, and with some government officials of the DPRK. A list of key advisors is attached for your review.

CONCLUSION

The Center of Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance's support of previous study missions and the April 2001 workshop in Seoul on disaster mitigation for the region has enabled over 240 of Korea practitioners and policy-makers and representatives of 5 ministries and key NGOs such as the Republic of Korea Red Cross Nursing College to establish a common definition of disaster mitigation. We have seen the value to these agencies in having a third party facilitate across ministries to enable them to work together for the first time in this field. We know that the same is true of disaster management organizations across the region, and we hope that the Center of Excellence finds it mutually beneficial to continue to build this regional base with the Northeast Asia Forum.