What is it like to serve as one’s national representative in North Korea? How is one received, from leaders to ordinary North Koreans? How does one deal with the political fallout of a nuclear test soon after one’s arrival? How free is a foreign emissary to travel and see the “real” North Korea and its residents? The Korea Society welcomes as part of its ongoing Knowing North Korea series the Honorable John Everard, who served as Britain’s Ambassador to the DPRK from 2006 to 2008. Though stationed in Pyongyang, Everard used his travels around the DPRK to meet and converse with many different North Koreans. Ambassador Everard’s new book, Only Beautiful, Please, published by Stanford University’s Shorenstein Center for Asia-Pacific Research, goes beyond official North Korea to unveil the human dimension of life in North Korea. Everard recounts his impressions of the country and its people, his interactions with them and his observations on their way of life. He provides a picture as well of the life of foreigners in this closed society, considers how the DPRK evolved to its current state, and discusses the failure of current approaches to tackle the challenges that it throws up. Ambassador Everard shares keen insights and striking, never-before-seen photographs taken during his stay in North Korea.
Knowing North Korea Book Event: Only Beautiful, Please: A British Diplomat in North Korea
with
Ambassador John Everard
Author and Former UK Ambassador to North Korea
Korea Society Fellow, Patron, and Corporate members,
please register HERE for complimentary tickets.
Images
{gallery}How I Became a North Korean{/gallery}
What is the current trajectory of U.S.-DPRK relations? Should denuclearization continue to be the central focus of U.S. approach? Joining us for this next installment of The Korea Society’s highly popular Knowing North Korea series, Dr. Patrick M. Cronin, Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), speaks from his groundbreaking paper suggesting change. Cronin served prior as the Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) at National Defense University and has a nearly thirty-year career inside government and academic research centers, spanning defense affairs, foreign policy, and development assistance.
Hotly contested and viewed by many as a bellwether for the December presidential election in Korea, the April 11 parliamentary election pits the conservative, incumbent Saenuri Party, led by Park Geun-hye against the liberal Democratic United Party, under Han Myeong-sook. The conservative Liberty Forward Party (Sim Dae-pyung) and left-progressive United Progressive Party (Rhyu Si-min, Lee Jung-hee and Sim Sang-jeong), as well as center-right K Party and center-left New Progressives, also weigh into the mix. Though the liberals have formed a coalition, the conservatives appear more fragmented, with Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak loyalists seemingly at odds. Stanford University Professor and Director of the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center Gi-wook Shin and Columbia University Professor and Director of the Center for Korean Research Charles Armstrong lead an intimate conversation on the results the day-after, their implications in the near-term, and their impact on the upcoming presidential elections. This is a special rapid reaction podcast recording session for regular policy attendees at The Korea Society.
