Inter-Korea relations

The Singapore Summit: the Joint Statement

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by Philip Gowman on 12 June, 2018

in In the news | Inter-Korea relations

Here is the official text from the Summit: Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit. President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim […]

Text of the Panmunjeom Declaration

by Philip Gowman 27 April 2018

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I’m wondering why a text as significant as this one is not prominently displayed on the Chongwadae or Ministry of Unification websites. The following is the unofficial translation you can find in the English-language newspapers. If there’s a materially different official version that subsequently comes to light I’ll repost. Update 12 May 2018 – I’ve […]

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The Korea Crisis, the Moon Jae-in Government, and Olympic Peace

by Events Editor 29 January 2018

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Somewhat late notice of a highly topical talk: The Korea Crisis, the Moon Jae-in Government, and Olympic Peace Prof. Chung-in Moon Special Presidential Advisor for Unification, Foreign and Security Affairs Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Yonsei University, Korea 30 January 2018, 5-6.30pm Venue: SOAS, Brunei Gallery Room B202 All welcome | No registration required Organised […]

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BAKS / SOAS conference: North Korea and North-East Asian security

by Events Editor 20 November 2017

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Notice of a conference on North East Asian security in the Paul Webley Wing of the Senate House, which will be followed by the BAKS AGM in Room 4426 of the SOAS main building. North Korea and North-East Asian security: Reconciling conflicting national interests Saturday, 2 December 2017, 2:00 – 5:00 PM SOAS, Paul Webley […]

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RUSI report launch: Preparing for a Second Korean War

by Events Editor 23 September 2017

Here’s a cheery event coming up next week, chaired by William Hague at the Royal United Services Institute. The event is fully subscribed but you can be put on a waiting list via the RUSI event page. Preparing for a Second Korean War: RUSI Whitehall Report Launch 28 September 2017, 16:30 RUSI Whitehall | London […]

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Event news: LSE SU Korea Future Forum

by Events Editor 25 January 2017

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How refreshing to have a whole day conference on Korea without a mention of hallyu or the DPRK in the detailed programme (though security on the peninsula has a dedicated panel session in the afternoon). Buy tickets for the LSE Student Union’s Korea Future Forum via Eventbrite (top price £40 plus booking fee) LSE SU […]

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Film review: The Lovers and the Despot

by Philip Gowman 10 October 2016

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The way you watch Ross Adam’s and Robert Cannan’s The Lovers and the Despot is likely to depend on whether you know the story or not. To those who are coming to it afresh, this is an extraordinary tale which is another example of the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction: one of South […]

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Kang Ik-joong’s Floating Dreams: the stories

by Philip Gowman 30 September 2016

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As Kang Ik-joong said of his installation on the Thames: his motive in collecting drawings from the North Koreans displaced by the Korean War was actually to collect their stories. Here are some of those stories, as shared on the Totally Thames website. Park Yun Ok (age 95) http://totallythames.org/blog/floating-dreams-one-dream-many-stories “My name is Park Yun Ok. […]

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Minister Thae moves south

by Philip Gowman 19 August 2016

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Here are a few links relating to Minister Thae Yong-ho’s defection. Minister Thae was the cultural attache at the DPRK embassy in London, and according to reports effectively the deputy head of mission. At LKL, we came across him during the second art exhibition held at the embassy back in 2014. He was probably there […]

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Looking back at 2015: DPRK and regional news

by Philip Gowman 8 January 2016

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In our third review of 2015, we look at some of the North Korea related news, and stories which put the peninsula in a wider East Asian context. DPRK Human rights and defectors Shin Dong-hyuk, the most prominent campaigner among the defector community, admitted that some of his testimony (eg, in Escape from Camp 14) […]

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Conference news: Engage Korea 2015 – Cambridge, 12 December

by Events Editor 3 November 2015

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The first Engage Korea conference was at Merton College Oxford in 2013. LKL reported from it here. Last year the conference went across the pond to Harvard. This year, they’re back in England: Engage Korea 2015 Saturday, 12 December 2015 from 09:00 to 18:00 University of Cambridge Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences […]

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Event report: Ambassador Hyon Hak-bong at Chatham House

by Philip Gowman 1 October 2015

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Yesterday the DPRK Ambassador HE Hyon Hak-bong gave an on-the-record talk at Chatham House followed by Q&A. Fuller accounts of the talk will no doubt appear. NK News, the Guardian and the Telegraph have already posted theirs. Here are the messages that LKL registered. Obviously, this is not intended to be a transcript – more a […]

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Understatement of the year: Joint concert “not quite a success”

by Philip Gowman 18 August 2015

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There’s a delightful and very detailed account of the grand Independence Day North-South musical collaboration in the Korea Joongang Daily. The headline reads “DMZ concert not quite a success, but not a failure”. Less politely put, the affair sounds like it was a bit of a fiasco: Only “13 musicians … turned up: one violin, […]

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The Human Condition and Theories of Unification in Korea – talk by Victor Cha at SOAS

by Events Editor 3 April 2015

Notice of a talk at SOAS next week by Victor Cha, whose Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future has been on my reading pile for rather too long. Please note that seats are limited so please RSVP to Suliane Tillon at 618053 at soas dot ac dot uk. The Human Condition and Theories of […]

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Looking back at 2014: DPRK and regional news

by Philip Gowman 15 February 2015

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In our third review of 2014, we look at some of the North Korea related news, and stories which put the peninsula in a wider East Asian context. Domestic news Kim Jong Un’s disappearance from public view in the Autumn prompted speculation ranging from a case of gout to a “very specific kind of coup”. […]

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Ambassador Lim on security challenges in NE Asia

by Events Editor 26 October 2014

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Notice of the upcoming Korean Studies evening seminar at SOAS: Security Challenges in Northeast Asia HE Ambassador Sungnam Lim 31 October 2014, 5:15 – 7:00 pm Brunei Gallery Room B102 With an introduction by Professor Paul Webley, Director of SOAS, University of London, and chaired by Dr Tat Yan Kong (SOAS, University of London). Keywords: […]

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Looking back at 2013: Domestic news

by Philip Gowman 5 February 2014

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Our final look back at 2013, including a random collection of news stories, mainly domestic, that caught our attention. In the news Asiana Airlines flight 214 from Incheon crashed on landing at San Francisco airport on 6 July. The Boeing 777 had approached the runway too low and too slow. An American local TV station […]

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