Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher R. Hill, recently noted for his leadership in the six-nation talks regarding North Korea’s nuclear program, will speak at Denison University’s Richard G. Lugar Symposium in Public Policy at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, in Denison’s Swasey Chapel (200 Chapel Drive). The event is free and open to the public.

Ambassador Hill, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, most recently served as ambassador to the Republic of Korea. In 2005 he was named head of the U.S. delegation to the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue. Hill previously served as U.S. ambassador to Poland (2000-2004), ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia (1996-99) and special envoy to Kosovo (1998-99). He also has served as special assistant to the president and as senior director for southeast European affairs in the National Security Council.

Hill recently has been much in the news, as major publications have reported his presence on the scene. The New York Times wrote, “The chief American negotiator for North Korea arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday (Oct. 1, 2008) to try to keep the North from reactivating its nuclear weapons program, while a news report said the government may have been restoring a test site.”

Hill’s trip was reviewed by some as the Bush administration’s last attempt to salvage a nuclear disarmament deal that it had struck with the North after years of difficult negotiations.

Hill’s long expertise in foreign affairs, and with North Korea in particular, will be the foundation of his lecture at Denison.

The Lugar Symposium was established by donations to the Golden Anniversary Fund at the 50th reunion of the class of 1954 in honor of their distinguished classmate, Senator Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) who has served as a member of the U.S. Senate since 1976.

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