[Notice] Yeonah Kim & KG Phil to Open June Edaily Forum

[By Yun-ji Jeong, Edaily] 12-year-old violin prodigy Yeonah Kim and the KG Philharmonic Orchestra will grace the 17th Edaily Strategic Forum (ESF), to be held at The Shilla Hotel in Seoul this June.

Violinist Yeonah Kim (12). (Photo: Courtesy of Yeonah Kim)

Edaily will host the 17th Edaily Strategic Forum on June 16 and 17 at the Dynasty Hall of The Shilla Hotel Seoul in Jung-gu, under the theme: “The Age of Power, Recasting Civilization : Who Designs the New World?”

Yeonah Kim and the KG Philharmonic Orchestra will take the stage for a Welcome Gala performance on the first day, June 16. The combination of Yuna Kim‘s delicate melody and KG Philharmonic orchestra’s grandeur is expected to greatly elevate the atmosphere of the event.

Yeonah Kim began playing the violin at age 5. She gained global attention in 2024 when a video of her impromptu performance with pianist Julien Cohen at an airport in Rome went viral. In the video, she performed Vivaldi‘s Four Seasons, garnering over 200 million views on YouTube and attracting worldwide attention.

Her competition record is equally impressive. She won first prize at the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition in 2023 and the Antonin Dvorak International Youth Radio Competition for Young Musicians in 2025, becoming the youngest winner in the history of both events. Last year, she captivated world leaders at the APEC Summit Welcome Dinner held in Gyeongju by performing the theme song “Golden,” the theme song for KPop Demon Hunters.

KG Philharmonic Orchestra. (Courtesy of KG Philharmonic)

Collaborating with her is the KG Philharmonic Orchestra, established in 2025 by the Kwak Jea-sun Foundation for Cultures. The orchestra brings together young performers who have already established their own distinctive musical voices on major domestic and international stages. Hee-tae Seo, famously known as the artistic director for the drama Beethoven Virus, serves as the orchestra’s music director.

Following the inaugural “Edaily New Year‘s Concert,” the KG Phil has been actively engaging with audiences through regular performances, including the “Masterpiece Series” to be held at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on the 31st of this month. For this ESF Welcome Gala Concert, Concertmaster Hyun Oh and five principal and core members, will perform a piano sextet. Their melody, characterized by a blend of strength within softness and a harmony of delicacy and energy, is expected to deliver a deep resonance.

Following the captivating musical performance, the forum will feature grand discourse on the global economy and geopolitics. As great power competition intensifies worldwide, the era demands new strategies that integrate traditional military security with technology, industry, and financial capabilities.

The keynote speech on the first day will be delivered by John Hamre, President of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), widely regarded as the world’s top think tank. He will analyze how U.S.-China competition is expanding beyond the military domain into financial systems and core technological hegemony, and present macro-level directions for middle powers like Korea to secure strategic autonomy amidst geopolitical pressures.

Rexon Ryu, President of The Asia Group (TAG), will also speak on shifting security and defense strategies in the “era of self-reliance.” A former Nonproliferation Director at the White House National Security Council (NSC), he is an expert who has consistently proposed strategic directions by connecting national security with industrial and technological policy.

Discussions on finance, industry, and fiscal policy are also on the agenda. Thorsten Beck, Professor at the European University Institute, and Kwanho Shin , President of the Korea Money and Finance Association (KMFA), will diagnose changes in global capital flows and the realignment of the financial order. Noreena Hertz, Honorary Professor at University College London (UCL), and Jiyoon Kim, Visiting Professor of Institute of East and West Studies, Yonsei University, will propose strategies for middle powers in the era of anti-globalization.

Furthermore, James Kim, Chairman & CEO of AMCHAM Korea, and Kisoon Park, former President of the Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI) in China, will share insights on Korea‘s market strategies and supply chain realignment from the perspective of U.S. and Chinese enterprises. Other renowned domestic and international scholars, including Alan Auerbach (UC Berkeley) and Andrew Levin (Dartmouth College), will also participate in discussions on sustainable strategies in this era of uncertainty.

As the world order fluctuates in 2026, the 17th Edaily Strategic Forum will serve as Korea’s premier platform offering solutions for how national strategies are evolving and what choices Korea must make.

● Date: June 16 (Tue) ~ 17 (Wed), 2026

● Venue: Dynasty Hall, Shilla Hotel, Seoul

● Organizer: Edaily

● Partners: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Policy Evaluation Research Institute (PERI)