London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

John Everard launches Only Beautiful Please at Asia House

John Everard has already held a US launch of his entertaining book containing his reflections on life in North Korea – Only Beautiful Please. And LKL reviews the book here. We enjoyed it. He is now holding a UK launch at Asia House on 24 January.

Only Beautiful, Please: A British Diplomat in North Korea

Book Launch
Asia House, 24 Jan 2013, 6pm – 8pm

Only Beautiful Please coverThe former British ambassador to North Korea celebrates his new book with an illustrated talk.

Coverage of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) all too often focuses solely on nuclear proliferation, military parades, and the personality cult around its leaders. As the British ambassador to North Korea, John Everard had the rare experience of living there from 2006, when the DPRK conducted its first nuclear test, to 2008, just before Kim Jong Il’s stroke.

While stationed in Pyongyang, Everard’s travels around the DPRK provided him with numerous opportunities to meet and converse with North Koreans. Using his book and his own reminiscences that go beyond the official North Korea, he unveils the human dimension of life in that hermetic nation.

Everard will relay his impressions of the country and its people, his interactions with them, and his observations on their way of life. Just how did the DPRK evolve to its current state and what is the right approach to this most difficult and challenging of states?

John Everard, in a twenty-seven year career as a British diplomat, worked in a variety of countries and was appointed ambassador twice (to Belarus and to Uruguay) before undertaking his final assignment as British ambassador to North Korea. He has served on the boards of various NGOs and he was a visiting fellow at Stanford University in 2010-2011.

Only Beautiful, Please: A British Diplomat in North Korea by John Everard published by The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center/Brookings Institution Press will be launched at this event.

Links:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.