Special lecture by US ambassador Kathleen Stephens “Amazing! Fantastic!” US Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens was amazed with the top-notch facilities of the Yonsei-Samsung Library. After looking around the high-technology multimedia lab, she humorously noted that the US embassy was not furnished with such wonderful facilities. On March 24th, Ambassador Stephens visited Yonsei University to deliver a special lecture and participate in a discussion on ‘Korea-US Relationship in the 21st Century’. She stated that “in such a fast-changing world, ‘global’ is the worldwide big issue and slogan”, highlighting the joint cooperation between Korea and the US in national and international relations, diplomatic relations, and academic research. In her special lecture, Ambassador Stephens shared her reminiscences of her visit to Korea in the mid 1970s as a member of the Peace Corps. She recollected that the saying ‘a big frog in a small pond’ was frequently reported in the media. She explained, “Due to the political crisis, Korea was unable to be concerned about the world outside”. She illustrated how Korea has changed, addressing global issues adopting diverse approaches. Taking examples of Korea’s life saving and relief activities in Haiti and Japan, Ambassador Stephens stated that “Korea is carrying out the role of a developed country, as a leader”. She also pointed out that Korea needs to pay more attention to its regional relationship, neighboring East Asian countries. During the question and answer session, students in the audience brought up many questions on economic, military, and cultural Korea-US relations. To a question on the menacing effect of China’s rapid growth on Korea-US military relations, Ambassador Stephens responded, “It is true that China occupies a new position in the global world, in many areas it is in the stage of adopting and acquiring global standards, adding that what both Korea and the US continually seek is cooperation, not intimidation, achieved through communication. Her final comment on this question was the potential threat of North Korea, underlining the importance of taking the carrot-and-stick approach.