Archived Events – Page 18 – GW Institute for Korean Studies

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[November 9-10, 2018] The 26th Annual Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium in the Korean Humanities

November 5, 2018July 29, 2021Archived Events, Hahn Moo-sook Colloquium in the Korean HumanitiesLeave a Comment

The 26th Annual Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium

in the Korean Humanities

November 9-10, 2018

“Emotion, Culture, and Subjectivity in Korea”

Register Now

In celebrating the 100th birthday of Hahn Moo-Sook, the 26th HMS colloquium has been combined with the Signature Conference of the GW Institute for Korean Studies. The colloquium brings renowned scholars in the field of the Korean studies to focus on the theme of emotion and affect in Korean history, society, and culture. The two keynote speakers, Donald Baker and Hyaeweol Choi, will discuss the complex emotion reflected in Hahn Moo-Sook’s novels and also explain Hahn Moo-Sook’s significance in the context of women’s history and the politics of archives. The panel presentations will explore various emotions and affect covering the period from Chosŏn Korea (1392-1910) to the two Koreas.

Friday, November 9, 2018, 8:20 AM – 5:00 PM

City View Room, Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E St. NW, 7^th floor, Washington, DC 20052

Honorable Guest Speakers
Ambassador Cho Yoon-je, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the U.S.
President & CEO Kathleen Stephens, Korea Economic Institute of America(Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea)
Chairman Hoagy Kim, Hahn Moo-Sook Foundation

Featured Speaker
Young-Key Kim-Renaud, The George Washington University

Keynote Speakers
Donald Baker, University of British Columbia
Hyaeweol Choi, University of Iowa

Panel Presenters:

Panel I Chosŏn Korea
Jungwon Kim, Columbia University
Sixiang Wang, Stanford University

Panel II Colonial Korea
Yoon Sun Yang, Boston University
Sonja M. Kim, State University of New York, Binghamton
Dafna Zur, Stanford University

Panel III Post-Liberation Korea
Jae Won E. Chung, University of Colorado Boulder
Gregg Brazinsky, The George Washington University
Suzy Kim, Rutgers University
Nan Kim, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Discussants
Sun Joo Kim, Harvard University
Soyoung Suh, Dartmouth College
Maria Frawley, The George Washington University
Haiyan Lee, Stanford University

Saturday, November 10, 2018, 9:30 AM – 2:00 PM

Lindner Family Commons, Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street, NW, Room 602, Washington, DC 20052

Panel Presenters:

Panel IV Contemporary Korea
Sun-Chul Kim, Emory University
Hae Yeon Choo, University of Toronto
Youngmin Choe, University of Southern California
John SP Cho, Davidson College

Discussant
Jie Yang, Simon Fraser University

Download the Program

Download the Poster

The HMS Colloquium in the Korean Humanities series at GW provides a forum for academic discussion of Korean arts, history, language, literature, thought and religious systems in the context of East Asia and the world. The Colloquium series is made possible by an endowment established by the estate of Hahn Moo-Sook (1918-1993), one of Korea’s most honored writers, in order to uphold her spirit of openness, curiosity, and commitment to education.

The 26th HMS Colloquium (https://eall.columbian.gwu.edu/hahn-moo-sook-colloquium) is open to the public FREE OF CHARGE. However, reservations are required. For questions regarding the colloquium, please contact gwiks@gwu.edu.

Lecture Series: “Democratization and Gender in Postcolonial South Korea”

November 1, 2018July 29, 2021Archived Events, Soh Jaipil Lecture SeriesLeave a Comment

On October 31, 2018, Eunkyung Kim, Research Professor of Research Institute of Asian Women at Sookmyung Women’s University and Administrative Director of Korean Association of Women’s History, gave a lecture on “Democratization and Gender in Postcolonial South Korea.” Gender discriminations were concealed and expected to disappear after democratization. However, hate speech and violence against women and sexual minorities not only persisted, but increased after Korean democracy has been stabilized. Dr. Kim questioned what democratization meant for women in contemporary South Korea.

Dr. Kim opened the lecture by sharing her experience as a college student. During the democratization movement of South Korea, young intellectuals were involved in series of protests. Female students had erased their femininity by not wearing make-up and skirts and using terms such as ‘hyung’– a term used by male to refer to an older male – to refer to their male counterparts, because femininity was perceived as emotional, passive, and wasteful. At the same time, some female students utilized those feminine qualities to avoid arrest.

Dr. Kim also introduced two Korean films: To You, From Me (1994) and Madame Freedom (1956) to address society’s perception on familial values, women’s sexuality, and intellectuals who led the protests. In the film To You, From Me, the director criticizes the popular intellectual ideas, by displaying an elite male activist expressing his arrogance and patriarchal attitude to the heroine. In the scene in which he engages in a violent, forced intercourse with her while yelling “Anti-fascism, anti-Americanism.”, the director points out his hypocritical behavior of committing another form of violent crime as he criticizes authoritarianism. Madame Freedom depicts western influence as threat to Korean ethnic values and traditions. Dr. Kim addressed that male intellectuals at the time were concerned about women becoming “Americanized” and spoiling the purity of Korean ethnicity. The main character in the film was an archetype of “wise mother, good wife” in a traditional patriarchal household until she was introduced to western culture. She began to have an affair with her dancing partner next door, who was “Americanized”. The man she has an affair with decorated his house with American goods and always spoke about liberty and human rights. Her husband was also having an affair, but his infidelity was portrayed as one that did not threaten the marriage and familial values. As the film explicitly depicts, the South Korean society perceived western culture as something that destroys traditional gender roles and alters female sexuality.

Dr. Kim then addressed the New Family Law and its implication on everyday lives. While the law seemed to support gender equality, it was actually gender discriminatory. The New Family Law allowed women to take legal actions, buy and sell property without permission from their spouses and even allowed free divorce. Male lawmakers were not concerned with women’s rights, but tried to evaluate women’s issues under a broader scope of democratization and modernization. Dr. Kim concluded the lecture by stating that the New Family Law did not reflect the voices of women, failed to break gender inequality, and did not enhance gender sensitization.

Co-sponsored event by Partnerships-International Strategies-Asia (PISA) and GW Institute for Korean Studies: “North Korean Art: Transcending Ideologies”

October 30, 2018July 29, 2021Archived EventsLeave a Comment

On October 24, 2018, GWIKS and Partnerships for International Strategies in Asia (PISA) co-sponsored a lecture by B. G. Muhn, a visual artist and professor at Georgetown University Department of Art and Art History, on “North Korean Art: Transcending Ideologies”. Dr. Muhn, a North Korean art scholar, shared his experiences of traveling to North Korea with the audience. In North Korea, Dr. Muhn had visited art museums, Pyongyang University of Fine Arts, and studios of North Korean artists, whom he had interviewed his research pursuit on Chosonhwa.

Dr. Muhn explained that Chosonhwa, traditional Oriental ink wash painting on rice paper, is a unique form of art that integrates North Korean political, cultural, and historical context. Chosonhwa displays Socialist Realism, revealing the North Korean political ideology embedded within the society. Dr. Muhn pointed out that in some of the paintings, characters maintain surprisingly aloof and peaceful composure despite the chaotic surrounding conditions, such as stormy sea and battle. He claimed that such depiction derives from the aspiration to maintain peace and dignity in audacious situations, perhaps a prevailing Confucian ideology.

In addition to the political ideology it displays, Chosonhwa possesses unique styles of outlines, use of water, color, and brushstrokes that distinguish it from Hankukhwa, the South Korean counterpart. For example, Dr. Muhn mentioned the vibrant use of color and delicate brushstrokes unique to Chosonhwa.

With the development of distinctive characteristics, Chosonhwa has considerably contributed to the unique characteristics of North Korean contemporary art since the late 1960s. In the exhibition, “North Korean Art: Paradoxical Realism”, at the 2018 Gwangju Biennale, Dr. Muhn has acknowledged the significance of North Korean art by solely showcasing Chosonhwa works.

[November 7, 2018] US Post-war Settlement with Japan: The Korean Perspective

October 29, 2018September 21, 2021Archived EventsLeave a Comment

Wednesday, November 7, 2018, 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM

Room 505
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052

The Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the GW Institute for Korean Studies invite you to a discussion with Dr. Woondo Choi – currently a Visiting Scholar with the Sigur Center – to discuss Korean strategic and historical perspectives regarding the US-Japan post-war settlement.

Light refreshments will be available. This event is public and open to the media.

About the Event:

In several aspects, the Korea-Japan friendship is constrained by the mutual lack of confidence whose root originates from the history. This relationship breeds negative impacts on the tri-lateral cooperation among the US, Korea, and Japan. Understanding the beginning of the US-Japan relationship would make current Japanese foreign policy more transparent, deepen the historical reconciliation between Japan and Korea, and provide clues for the US role in improving the relationship between the two allied partners. For that purpose, we will look into the three frequently-mentioned factors in the US Post-war settlement with Japan: 1) strategic interests, 2) decision-making participants’ view on Japan and 3) safety assurances vis-a-vis Japan’s military resurgence. This research will deal with the period starting with the attack on Pearl Harbor until the end of the Occupation and San Francisco Peace Treaty.

About the Speaker:

Woondo Choi is a research fellow at the Institute of Korea-Japan Relations at Northeast Asian History Foundation, Seoul, Korea, at which he has been working since 2008. He received his B.A. from Yonsei University in 1987 and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1997. For 1 year between 2011 and 2012, he stayed in Japan as a Visiting Professor, at Nagasaki University, Japan, and in 2018, at the Sigur Center of the George Washington University as a Visiting Scholar. He has published more than 50 articles and book chapters on Japanese foreign policy, US-Japan security relations, territorial disputes, and historical reconciliation. His recent works include “East Asian Community, the Japanese Policy Suggestion: Tracking the Changes in Japan’s Regional Perception.” (2012), “Japan’s Right for Self-Defense: Concept, Interpretation, and Constitutional Revision” (2013) “Abe’s Visit to Yasukuni Shrine and the Impact on East Asian Regional Security” (2014.), “Korean Independence and 70 Years Thereafter: Japanese Colonial Rule and Post-War Settlement” (2015).

Moderated by:

portrait of Ben Hopkins in professional attire

Benjamin D. Hopkins – Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies; Associate Professor of History and International Affairs

portrait of Eunkyung Kim in professional attire

[October 31, 2018] Democratization and Gender in Postcolonial South Korea

October 15, 2018August 6, 2021Archived Events, Soh Jaipil Lecture Series1 Comment

Lecture Series with Eunkyung Kim

“Democratization and Gender in Postcolonial South Korea”

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Room 505, Elliott School of

International Affairs

1957 E St. NW, Room 505, Washington, DC 20052

South Korea achieved rapid economic development and democratization. On the one hand, Korean democracy seems to have taken root and stabilized. On the other hand, it is the case that hate speech and violence against women and sexual minorities are increasing. Dr. Kim questions what democratization means for women in contemporary South Korea. She explores its historical trajectory focusing on the new civil code that has gender discriminatory characteristics in postcolonial South Korea.

Speaker

Eunkyung Kim

Eunkyung Kim is Research Professor of Research Institute of Asian Women at Sookmyung Women’s University and Administrative Director of Korean Association of Women’s History. Her research focuses on the issues of gender, sexuality, family, and cultural history of cinema in South Korea. She is the author of Cultural History of Korean Students: From Liberation to the 1960 April Revolution (Seohaemunjip, 2018).

Moderator

Celeste Arrington

Celeste L. Arrington is Korea Foundation Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University. She specializes in comparative politics, with a regional focus on the Koreas and Japan. Her research and teaching focus on law and social movements, the politics of redress, the media, litigation, lawyers, policy-making processes, historical justice, North Korean human rights, and qualitative methods. She is also interested in the international relations and security of Northeast Asia and transnational activism. She is the author ofAccidental Activists: Victims and Government Accountability in South Korea and Japan (2016) and has published in the Comparative Political Studies, Law & Society Review, Journal of East Asian Studies, Pacific Affairs, Asian Survey, and the Washington Post, among others. She received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and an A.B. from Princeton University. She is currently writing a book that analyzes the role of lawyers and legal activism in Japanese and Korean policies related to persons with disabilities and tobacco control.

[October 24, 2018] North Korean Art: Transcending Ideologies

October 1, 2018September 21, 2021Archived Events, Soh Jaipil Lecture SeriesLeave a Comment

Lecture Series with BG Muhn

North Korean Art: Transcending Ideologies

Co-sponsored by PISA & GWIKS

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm

Lindner Family Commons

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E St. NW, Room 602, Washington, DC 20052

Professor B.G. Muhn’s talk will be focusing on the exhibition he curated in South Korea, which is held at the 2018 Gwangju Biennale until November 11, 2018, “North Korean Art: Paradoxical Realism.” This North Korean art exhibition at the Biennale is most probably the first opportunity for the people of South Korea and around the world to see North Korean art in its full spectrum within the context of Socialist Realism art. Within the realm of Socialist Realism art, North Korea is the only country that, after the fall of the Soviet Union, is still creating Socialist Realism in the world, and it is worth noting that the art has developed a unique expression and characteristics.

Speaker: Professor BG Muhn, Department of Art and Art History, Georgetown University

BG Muhn, a painter and art professor at Georgetown University, has achieved substantial and noteworthy professional recognition through solo exhibitions in venues such as Stux Gallery in Chelsea in New York City, Ilmin Museum of Art in Seoul and the American University Museum in Washington, DC. He also has received acclaim in reviews and interviews, appearing in prominent media such as The New York Times, Art in America and CNN. BG Muhn is an authority on North Korean art. He has made nine research trips to DPRK to visit museums and interview artists and has been giving lectures on North Korean art at numerous academic and cultural venues including Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Harvard universities and Water Mill Art Center for Robert Wilson. He curated “Contemporary North Korean Art: Evolution of Socialist Realism” at the American University Museum in Washington, DC in 2016. His article on the issue was featured in a global British magazine, Index on Censorship (2017), and his interview was included in a British magazine Contra (2018). His eight-year endeavor on the research of Chosonhwa culminated in his recently published book, Pyongyang Art: The Enigmatic World of Chosonhwa (2018, Seoul Selection, 300 pages). Muhn was also chosen as curator for the North Korean art exhibition, North Korean Art: Paradoxical Realism at the 2018 Gwangju Biennale in Korea.

Moderator: Professor Janis Goodman, Department of Fine Arts, The George Washington University

Janis Goodman is a Washington DC-based artist. She is currently a Professor of Fine Arts at the Corcoran School of Arts/George Washington University in Washington, DC. She was one of the founders of the arts group Workingman Collective. She is the arts reviewer for Around Town, WETA TV a PBS affiliate. She was awarded a Franz and Virginia Bader Award and DC Commission on the Arts Grant for 2018. Janis Goodman’s drawings and paintings move between the narrative and the deconstructed. The paintings are based on intuition and first-hand experience. Years of hiking national parks and kayaking rivers along the east coast have formed the backdrop of her work. Her fascination with natural phenomenon fuels her interest in movement, line, image, and color. Ms. Goodman’s work follows the invisible energy paths connecting the dots between the observed, imagined and remembered. Ms. Goodman’s interest in the arts and education has been fueled by extensive travel through Asia and western Europe. Janis has been an artist in resident for the past three years at the Shoals Marine Lab on Appledore Island, ME. Her work with Shoals underscores her interest in ecology and the paths of nature.

event flyer with headshots of speakers; text: US-ROK Alliance Restructuring

[October 12, 2018] U.S. – ROK Alliance Restructuring

October 1, 2018August 6, 2021Archived EventsLeave a Comment

Event co-sponsored by the Sejong Society of Washington, D.C. and GWIKS

Go to the GWIKS Facebook

logos of the GW Institute for Korean Studies and Korean Americans in Action

[October 10, 2018] Other Dimensions of the Impact of War on the Korean Peninsula

September 30, 2018August 6, 2021Archived EventsLeave a Comment

Co-hosted by Korean Americans in Action (KAA) & GW Institute for Korean Studies (GWIKS)

Other Dimensions of the Impact of War
on the Korean Peninsula

October 10, Wednesday

12:00pm – 1:30pm

Lindner Commons (Room 602)

Elliott School of International Affairs

The George Washington University

1957 E St. NW, Room 602, Washington, DC 20052

There has undoubtedly been a breakthrough in the relationship between the United States and North Korea, and the beginnings of real, if unsteady, progress toward denuclearization. However, during these early stages of a new diplomacy toward the peninsula, the risk of war resulting from miscalculation or sudden degradation of trust is always present.

During the year of “fire and fury” the impact of potential nuclear-armed conflict was covered widely by the media, with a focus on loss of life. Other dimensions of the impact of war were far less discussed.

One example is the U.S. economy: South Korea is the U.S.’s sixth largest trading partner; the U.S. is South Korea’s third. On Tuesday, October 2, the Economist Intelligence Unit released a report about the grave consequences to the American economy in the event of a conventional — not nuclear — military conflict on the peninsula. This and other dimensions of war, including humanitarian crises and regional impacts, will be discussed.

*Light lunch will be provided.

Panelists:

Robert Powell

Senior Consultant, Economist Intelligence Unit

Robert PowelI is a Senior Consultant on the Public Policy, Economics and Politics (PPEP) team, and joined the Economist Intelligence Unit in May 2001. He advises private firms and government agencies, delivering studies to assist in, among other areas, scenario planning, advocacy efforts, and supply chain resilience. Prior to joining the PPEP team, he was the Business Operational Risk global manager and Regional Manager of the Middle East and Africa team. Rob holds a Masters degree from Trinity College Dublin, and has certificates in Banking Risk & Regulation and Global Oil & Gas Management. He is also a regular participant on the conference circuit, and maintains very active contacts with the media, including frequent interviews for the BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Fox, ABC, CNN and NPR.

Daniel Jasper

Public Education and Advocacy Coordinator, Asia, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)

Daniel Jasper is AFSC’s Public Education and Advocacy Coordinator for Asia. His role is to bring lessons learned from AFSC’s programs throughout Asia back to policymakers in Washington. His current work focuses heavily on the humanitarian, peacebuilding, and people-to-people aspects of U.S.-North Korea relations. Daniel has ten years of experience working in public policy, advocacy, and international affairs. Prior to joining AFSC, he worked at World Learning, where he administered the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). He has also worked for the Minnesota House of Representatives, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the United Nations, as well as serving as a Paul D. Coverdell Fellow for Democracy North Carolina and Peace Action – North Carolina. Daniel completed two assignments with the Peace Corps (Turkmenistan, 2008-10; St Lucia, 2013-14), where he collaborated with foreign ministries to improve local education standards.

Mark TokolaVice President, Korea Economic Institute of America

Mark Tokola retired as a U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister-Counselor in September 2014 after a 38-year career with the U.S. Department of State. His last posting was as Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the American Embassy in London. Previously he had served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassies in Seoul, Republic of Korea; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; and, Reykjavik, Iceland. Among his other postings were two tours at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels, Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs at Embassy London, and Economic Counselor at U.S. Embassy The Hague. He also served as Director of the Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO) in Baghdad from 2007-2008. Mr. Tokola received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award for his work on implementing the Dayton Peace Accords while serving as Political Counselor in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1997-1999.

Moderator

Jisoo M. Kim

Director of the GW Institute for Korean Studies

Jisoo M. Kim is Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures at the George Washington University and Director of the GW Institute for Korean Studies. She received her Ph.D. in Korean History from Columbia University. She is a specialist in gender and legal history of early modern Korea. Her broader research interests include gender and sexuality, crime and justice, literary representations of the law, history of emotions, vernacular, and genderwriting. She is the author of The Emotions of Justice: Gender, Status, and Legal Performance in Chosŏn Korea (University of Washington Press, 2015), which was awarded the 2017 James Palais Prize of the Association for Asian Studies. She is also the co-editor of The Great East Asian War and the Birth of the Korean Nation by JaHyun Kim Haboush (Columbia University Press, 2016). She is currently working on a book project, tentatively titled, Suspicious Death: Forensic Medicine, Dead Bodies, and Criminal Justice in Early Modern Korea.

RESCHEDULED) [September 21, 2018] Information Panel: Summer Study Abroad Program

August 31, 2018August 6, 2021Archived EventsLeave a Comment

Information Panel
2018 Summer Study Abroad Program

The Summer Study Abroad Program participants visited various sites in South Korea and using the border as a lens into exploring four main themes: Korean identities, division, reunification, and economic differences between the Koreas. Students were able to trace the transnational processes of modernization, imperialism, colonization, the Cold War, decolonization, and neoliberalism that have shaped and continue to shape Korean identity and culture. Few of the sites they have visited are: Gyeongbok Palace, National Museum of Korea, DMZ, Ajou Institute for Unification, Hana Foundation, Constitutional Court of Korea, Korea National Defense University, Women’s Human Rights Museum, Google Korea, and Public Affairs Office of U.S. Embassy, and more.
Please join us for the panel to learn more about the summer program for next year and to hear three participant’s presentations.

Friday, September 21, 2018
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

The Elliott School of International Affairs
The George Washington University
1957 E st. NW, Room 212,
Washington DC, 20052

Alexis Simms, Archeology and Anthropology, CCAS
“Living History in Korea”

Nikou Golchin, MBA, School of Business
“K-beauty”

Sasha Polonko, International Affairs, ESIA
“Feminism in South Korea”

Moderated By Jisoo M. Kim
Jisoo M. Kim is Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures at the George Washington University and Director of the GW Institute for Korean Studies. She received her Ph.D. in Korean History from Columbia University. She is a specialist in gender and legal history of early modern Korea. Her broader research interests include gender and sexuality, crime and justice, literary representations of the law, history of emotions, vernacular, and gender writing. She is the author of The Emotions of Justice: Gender, Status, and Legal Performance in Chosŏn Korea (University of Washington Press, 2015), which was awarded the 2017 James Palais Prize of the Association for Asian Studies. She is also the co-editor of The Great East Asian War and the Birth of the Korean Nation by JaHyun Kim Haboush (Columbia University Press, 2016). She is currently working on a book project, tentatively titled, Suspicious Death: Forensic Medicine, Dead Bodies, and Criminal Justice in Early Modern Korea.

black square tile with text: North Korean Human Rights - Activists and Networks edited by Andrew Yeo and Danielle Chubb

[September 12, 2018] Book Talk: “North Korean Human Rights and Transnational Advocacy”

August 31, 2018August 6, 2021Archived Events, Soh Jaipil Circle on Contemporary Korean AffairsLeave a Comment

Soh Jaipil Circle on Contemporary Korean Affairs

Book talk:
“North Korean Human Rights and Transnational Advocacy”

Speakers:

Andrew Yeo
Associate Professor, Department of Politics, Catholic University of America

Celeste Arrington
Korea Foundation Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, The George Washington University

Discussant:
Greg Scarlatoiu
Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea

Wednesday, September 12, 2018
11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Lindner Family Commons
The George Washington University
1957 E Street, Room 602 NW, Washington, DC 20052

Event Description

The evidentiary weight of North Korean defectors’ testimony depicting crimes against humanity has drawn considerable attention from the international community in recent years. Despite the ramped up attention to North Korean human rights, what remains unexamined is the rise of the transnational advocacy network which drew attention to the issue in the first place. In a recent book edited by Andrew Yeo and Danielle Chubb, North Korean Human Rights: Activists and Networks (Cambridge University Press 2018), a team of scholars trace the emergence and evolution of North Korean human rights activism and challenge existing conceptions of transnational advocacy, how they operate, and why they provoke a response from even the most recalcitrant regimes. In this event, two contributors to the book and a leading figure in the North Korean human rights campaign share insights into the politics, strategy, and policy objectives of North Korean human rights activism in both domestic and transnational contexts.

About Andrew Yeo

Andrew Yeo is Associate Professor of Politics and Director of Asian Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He is the co-editor (with Danielle Chubb) of the newly published North Korean Human Rights: Activists and Networks (Cambridge University Press 2018). He is also the author or editor of Asia’s Regional Architecture: Alliances and Institutions in the Pacific Century (Stanford University Press, forthcoming 2019); Activists, Alliances, and Anti-U.S. Base Protests (Cambridge University Press 2011); and Living in an Age of Mistrust (Routledge Press 2017). His research and teaching interests include international relations theory, East Asian regionalism, social and transnational movements, overseas basing strategy and U.S. force posture, Korean politics, and North Korea. His scholarly publications have appeared in International Studies Quarterly, European Journal of International Relations, Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Politics, Journal of East Asian Studies, and International Relations of the Asia-Pacific among others. He has also contributed pieces or provided commentary for MSNBC, Channel News Asia, CBS Radio, Voice of America, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, New York Times Magazine, Al Jazeera, and the Korea Times. He is on the advisory boards of the U.S.-Korea NextGen Scholars Program and the Korea-America Student Conference (KASC). He received his Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University, and B.A. in Psychology and International Studies from Northwestern University.

About Celeste Arrington

Celeste L. Arrington is Korea Foundation Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University. She specializes in comparative politics, with a regional focus on the Koreas and Japan. Her research and teaching focus on law and social movements, the politics of redress, the media, litigation, lawyers, policy-making processes, historical justice, North Korean human rights, and qualitative methods. She is also interested in the international relations and security of Northeast Asia and transnational activism. She is the author of Accidental Activists: Victims and Government Accountability in South Korea and Japan (2016) and has published in the Comparative Political Studies, Law & Society Review, Journal of East Asian Studies, Pacific Affairs, Asian Survey, and the Washington Post, among others. She received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and an A.B. from Princeton University. She is currently writing a book that analyzes the role of lawyers and legal activism in Japanese and Korean policies related to persons with disabilities and tobacco control.

About Greg Scarlatoiu

Greg Scarlatoiu is the Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK). He is a visiting professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and instructor and coordinator of the Korean Peninsula and Japan class at the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI). Scarlatoiu is vice president of the International Council on Korean Studies (ICKS). Scarlatoiu holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School, Tufts University, and a Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts from Seoul National University’s Department of International Relations. He completed the MIT XXI Seminar for U.S. national security leaders in 2016-2017. Scarlatoiu was awarded the title ‘Citizen of Honor, City of Seoul,’ in January 1999.