L. GORDON FLAKE

L. Gordon Flake was appointed Executive Director of the Mansfield Center for Pacific Affairs in February 1999. Prior to joining the Mansfield Center, he was a Senior Fellow and Associate Director of the Program on Conflict Resolution at The Atlantic Council of the United States. Before moving to The Atlantic Council, he served as Director for Research and Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America.

Mr. Flake travels frequently to Japan, Korea, China and other countries in Asia as a conference participant and lecturer. He is a regular contributor on Korea issues in the U.S. and Asian press, and he has traveled to North Korea on four occasions. Mr. Flake has published extensively on policy issues in Asia. His recent Publications include: Patterns In Inter-Korean Economic Relations (Sejong Institute, Seoul, 1999); Inter-Korean Economic Relations Under the 'Sunshine Policy' (Korea's Economy 1999, February 1999); North Korea and Northeast Asian Regional Integration: Strategic Implications for Future Economic Relations (Special Report, CSIS, Fall 1998); and Trading Places: U.S. and ROK Policy on Economic Engagement of the DPRK (Normalization, Vol. 1, No. 1, Autumn 1998).

Mr. Flake was born in Rehoboth, New Mexico. He received his B.A. degree in Korean with a minor in international relations from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He completed his M.A. at the David M. Kennedy Center for International and Area Studies, also at B.Y.U. His master's thesis was on the economic reforms in Laos. He lived in Korea for a number of years and speaks both fluent Korean and Laotian. He has five young children and is married to Pakayvanh Sisoutham of Vientiane, Laos.