Asia Society’s Korea Center celebrated the fifth anniversary of its founding with a coterie of international and South Korean VIPs, including a healthy contingent from the foreign diplomatic community here, at gala dinner in Seoul on Thursday.

With the attendance of about a dozen foreign diplomats, the fete featured a number of lauded personalities outside government in the United States and Asia, including rookie hurler for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ryu Hyun-jin.

The left-hander, who spent years with the Hanwha Eagles, debuted this year as a starter with the Dodgers. He is the first South Korean player to start in an MLB postseason game.

Asia Society started in 1956 as a nonprofit organization focused on increasing awareness and knowledge about Asia in the United States.

From those Cold War beginnings, the Asia Society has transformed into an international organization that is dedicated not only to increasing mutual understanding and exchange between the U.S. and Asia, but also to playing a role as a “Track II” diplomatic platform for dialogue, according to its new president and CEO, Josette Sheeran.

Sheeran’s wonky “Track II” reference pointed to Asia Society’s diplomatic role as a place for unofficial interactions carried out by nongovernmental players with access to high-level decision makers. In contrast, “Track I” diplomacy is conducted by government officials.

Leaders at the anniversary reception said Asia Society contributed to bridging impasses vis-a-vis the military junta in Myanmar and in Iranian nuclear talks.

A former executive director of the multibillion-dollar World Food Program and a vice chair of the World Economic Forum, Sheeran took over at Asia Society on June 10.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)