North Korean studies

North Korean studies is a sub-area of Korean studies. The number of researchers is comparatively small.^[1] The only fully dedicated institution to the study area is the University of North Korean Studies, Seoul,^[2] but many universities run undergraduate courses and postgraduate research programs.^[3]

North Korean studies
Hangul	북한학
Hanja	北韓學
Revised Romanization	Bukhanhak
McCune–Reischauer	Pukhanhak

The field has been unable to achieve consensus on even some fundamental questions, such as whether North Korea should be characterized as a communist or fascist state and what is the level of involvement of the government in human right abuses.^[1]

North Korean studies suffers from a lack of primary sources from the country, although the situation varies by decade. Sources from the 1940s are mostly Soviet documents available from archives. Documents from the 1950s are harder to come by. Some were smuggled out of the country, but the bulk of scholarship is done on reports of Eastern Bloc embassies in North Korea. As of 2018^[update], Soviet documents from the 1960s are in the process of being declassified, but sources from Eastern European countries are already available. The availability of documents from the 1950s and especially the 1960s is contrasted with the fact that most of that which happened in North Korea took place outside of diplomatic circles, and foreign diplomats were given less and less information as time passed. Sources from the 1970s and 1980s are especially scarce outside of a selection of official publications. Beginning with the 1990s, scholarship has relied on testimonies of North Korean defectors.^[4]

Academic departments

• Korea University Sejong Campus^[5]
• Dongguk University, 50 students
• University of Central Lancashire MA North Korean Studies
• DPRK Strategic Research Center, KIMEP University

Academic projects

• North Korea International Documentation Project, NKIDP

Journals and webpages

• 38 North – analysis website formerly at Johns Hopkins University,^[6] now at The Stimson Center^[7]
• Hyundae Pukhan Yongu – Contemporary North Korean Studies (현대 북한 연구)^[8]
• NK News – a news website^[9]
• Daily NK – a news and opinion website
• Sino-NK – an independent periodical
• North Korea Review – previously published by the Jamestown Foundation^[10]
• North Korean Review – an English-language academic journal fully devoted to North Korean studies by Yonsei University^[11]
• North Korea Tech – technology analysis blog, affiliated with 38 North^[12]
• Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights – Quarterly journal (1996–2012)
• International Journal of Korean Unification Studies
• Routledge Research on Korea Series.

Other DPRK-focused institutions conducting research

• Committee for Human Rights in North Korea^{[13][14][15][16]}
• Database Center for North Korean Human Rights^[17][18][19]
• Korea Institute for National Unification
• People for Successful Corean Reunification^[20][21][22]

See also

• North Korea portal

• Media coverage of North Korea
• Category:Experts on North Korea

References

1. Young, Benjamin R. (24 September 2021). "The contentious field of North Korean studies: Schools of thought and divisions". NK PRO. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
2. "University of North Korean Studies". Archived from the original on 2021-06-10. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
3. Students of N.K. studies hope for role in unity Archived 2015-03-13 at the Wayback Machine 2012
4. Tertitskiy, Fyodor (4 September 2018). "How sourcing for North Korean studies has changed over time". NK News. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
5. Korea University Graduate Department of North Korean Studies Archived 2013-06-24 at the Wayback Machine
6. Demick, Barbara (October 6, 2017). "The first casualty of North Korean nuclear tests? The country's environment". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 15, 2021. 38 North, an academic website on Korea run by Johns Hopkins University.
7. "About". 38 North. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
8. 현대 북한 연구 – Volume 11, Issue 3 – Page 320 2008 "이러한 전통 과 경험 을 바탕 으로 2004 년 학교 법인 한마 학원 은 북한 대학원 대학교 를 설립 했습니다 . 이제 북한 대학원 대학교 는 북한 · 통일 분야 의 종합 적인 연구 · 교육 의 메카 로서 그 역할 을 수행 할 것 입니다 . 북한 대학원 대학교 는 F 북한 ...
9. Weiser, Martin (31 October 2016). "On Reading North Korean Media: The Curse of the Web". Sino-NK. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
10. "North Korea Review Archive" (PDF). The Jamestown Foundation. 29 February 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-07-30. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
11. "North Korean Review – McFarland- a leading independent publisher of academic and nonfiction books". mcfarlandbooks.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
12. "Affiliates". 38 North. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
13. Cohen, Roberta (December 7, 2017). "A New UN Approach to Human Rights in North Korea: The 2017 Special Rapporteur's Report". 38 North – Korea Institute at SAIS. Archived from the original on 2017-12-08. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
14. Thiessen, Marc A. (February 16, 2018). "Kim Yo Jong does not accurately represent North Korea. Here is the reality". Washington Post. USA. Archived from the original on 2018-03-17. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
15. Fifield, Anna (October 26, 2017). "New images show North Korea's extensive network of 'reeducation' camps". Washington Post. USA. Archived from the original on 2018-02-22. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
16. Goedde, Patricia (August 2010). "Legal Mobilization for Human Rights Protection in North Korea: Furthering Discourse or Discord?". Human Rights Quarterly. 32 (3). The Johns Hopkins University Press: 530–574. doi:10.1353/hrq.2010.0008. JSTOR 40784055.
17. Protais, Baptiste (August 9, 2017). "Libération d'un pasteur canadien emprisonné en Corée du Nord". La Croix. France. Archived from the original on 2017-08-13. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
18. "N. Korean defectors sold as brides in China want kids back". Associated Press. September 25, 2016. Archived from the original on 2018-08-26. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
19. Harris, Gardiner; Landler, Mark (May 31, 2018). "Trump to Meet North Korean Envoys Amid Rising Summit Optimism". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
20. Harlan, Chico (September 8, 2010). "N. Koreans may be frustrated with government and likely rise of Kim Jong Eun". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2017-06-19. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
21. Jacobs, Harrison (June 9, 2018). "North Koreans understand their government lies, but there's one thing they don't know, according to a defector". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2018-06-09. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
22. Kim, Eldo (March 17, 2010). "Pscore's got the word on helping new defectors". JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 2018-08-18. Retrieved March 17, 2018.

Further reading

• Tertitskiy, Fyodor (8 July 2016). "The flaws and biases in North Korean studies". NK News.

External links

• NORTH KOREAN STUDIES – СЕВЕРОКОРЕЙСКИЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ Articles and links to Web sites about contemporary North Korean society and politics, relations with Russia and Australia, and Soviet Koreans.
• Sino-NK