NORTH KOREAN

REVIEW​ ONLINE
NORTH KOREAN STUDIES
EVENTS​
Upcoming Events​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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※ Title: <The Echo Never Stops> Exhibition on North Korea
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Host: University of Central Lancashire, International Institute of Korean Studies, The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights
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Date: April 7-26th, 2025, 10 AM–4 PM​​
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Location: PR1 Gallery, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE
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Sign up: Open to Public
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Description:
While the world enjoys the cultural explosion of K-pop, K-dramas, and the vibrant expression of Korean creativity, North Korea remains a stark contrast—a country left behind with the cloaked society. In North Korea, words can lead to imprisonment, and access to information is a dangerous privilege. Given this, the International Institute of Korean Studies at the University of Central Lancashire (IKSU) is co-hosting an exhibition with the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) in South Korea, to reveal the harrowing reality of life under extreme censorship and information control. The exhibition will showcase compelling testimonies, data, and rare insights into the struggles for freedom in North Korea, as well as items used by North Koreans to access outside information. Join us in amplifying these voices and exploring the stories of resilience that challenge our understanding of human rights and freedom of expression—because every story deserves to be told, and every voice has the right to be heard.
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※ Title: North Korea’s International Health Engagement: Past, Present, and Future Webinar Series -- Session 4: New Era of Engagement with North Korea in Health
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Host: The Korea Health Policy Project in collaboration with the National Committee on North Korea (NCNK), United States Institute of Peace (USIP), 38 North, Council of Korean Americans (CKA), and the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change at the Harvard Medical School.
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Date: April 22nd, 2025, 9am EDT​​
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Location: Virtual via Zoom
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Sign up: https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAtf-uhrDMqGdAlH_k8xYnHyOeJyeCoGkg9#/registration
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Description:
​This four-part webinar series will bring together leading experts to discuss the current state of public health in North Korea, policy priorities, and prospects moving forward. In each session a moderated discussion will follow afterward.
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※ Title: Among Women Across Worlds: North Korea in Global Cold War
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Host: Center for Korean Studies, Center for the Study of Women, Department of History at the University of California, Los Angeles
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Date: April 22nd, 2025, 4:00 PM​​
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Location: In-person at Bunche Hall, Rm 10383
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Sign up: https://www.international.ucla.edu/cks/event/17104
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Description:
​While social movements may appear to have receded in the 1950s with the rise of Cold War domesticity and McCarthyism (much like the upsurge of authoritarianisms today), the Korean War galvanized women to promote women’s rights in the context of the first global peace campaign during the Cold War. Recuperating the erasure of North Korean women from this movement, this talk excavates buried histories of Cold War sutures to show how leftist women tried to bridge the Cold War divide through maternalist strategies. Socialist feminism in the context of a global peace movement facilitated a productive understanding of “difference” toward a transversal politics of solidarity. The talk weaves together the women’s press with photographs and archival film footage to contemplate their use in transnational movements of resistance and solidarity, both then and now.
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※ Title: An Overview of North Korean Sources of Documentation Related to Religious Studies
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Host: UP Korea Research Center (KRC), UP Tacloban College
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Date: April 22nd, 2025, 3:00-5:30PM (GMT+8)​​
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Location: Virtual via UP KRC Facebook & YouTube Live
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Sign up: https://www.youtube.com/live/8yS2zVC-PBE?si=a0NSZs5gVuk1sdX9
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Description:
Publications on religious themes produced in North Korea predominantly convey the official stance of the state, which is significantly molded by the unique Juche ideology, advocating for self-reliance, as well as the country's commitment to secularism and atheism. Such literature probably derives from publications produced by State-Controlled Publishing Houses, as well as ideological writings and texts that may have been written by Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, or Kim Jong-un. The portrayal of religion is not always unfavorable. Numerous cultural publications highlight the spiritual heritage of North Korea. The key question we should consider is: how is religion portrayed in the literature of North Korea, and does it always carry negative implications? This study will aim to demonstrate that the North Korean press does not always depict religion as a danger for the leadership of the Korean Worker’s Party but may be also a catalyst for the development of the economy of North Korea..
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※ Title: "I am from North Korea" English Speech Contest
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Host: Freedom Speakers International, Harvard University
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Date: September 24th, 2025 from 10 a.m.
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Location: Harvard Kennedy School, 79 John F Kennedy St, Cambridge, MA, US, 02138
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Sign up: https://www.linkedin.com/events/iamfromnorthkorea-englishspeech7307709356874088449/
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Description:
More details to come. Here’s a Vlog from FSI’s 19th contest at Harvard University in April 2024: https://youtu.be/4udStevg3ag?si=dhUwyG0bqLovMVlq.