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Korean visual entertainment—including films, K-dramas, and K-pop music videos—is the result of highly sophisticated planning and production. These productions captivate a global audience by synthesizing music, narrative, and styling to deliver striking visual aesthetics and compelling emotional narratives. Costume is central to this production system, and it plays an instrumental role in the aesthetic appeal and...
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The Promised Republic
During a discussion of his book, The Promised Republic: Developmental Society and The Making of Modern Seoul, 1961-1971, Dr. Russell Burge challenged elite-driven narratives of South Korea's "Miracle on the Han" by demonstrating how the urban poor in Seoul's shantytowns (panjachon) actively shaped developmental politics through a rich archive of memoirs, interviews, and...
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Assessing North Korea's Developing Nuclear Program
In our discussion assessing the latest developments of North Korea's nuclear program, Open Nuclear Network (ONN) Senior Analyst Sarah Laderman challenged conventional wisdoms regarding the DPRK's nuclear capabilities and described how the Kim Regime balances its fissile material supply against strategic weaponization demands.
This program was...
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Privileged but Powerless
Dr. Jieun Baek described the complex psychological drivers impacting North Korea's 100,000 political elites in a discussion of her new book, Privileged but Powerless: How North Korean Elite Grievances Reveal the Regime's Greatest Weakness. Mobilizing hundreds of hours of interviews with high-level escapees, Dr. Baek argued that the elites' performative loyalty is born...
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Author Photo: Melmel Chung
In If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light, Korean science fiction superstar Kim Choyeop leads us to places we never thought we’d reach, imagining worlds galaxies away and unfamiliar lifeforms with near-dizzying humanity. A stunning and poignant collection of literary speculative fiction stories that explore the complexities of identity, love, death, and the search for life’s meaning, Kim’s...
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America's Taiwan Dilemma
During a discussion regarding his newest book, America's Taiwan Dilemma: Allies' Reactions and the Stakes for US Reputation, Mark Christopher argued that Washington policymakers often project their own assumptions onto allies. For instance, U.S. officials believe that allies demand a military defense of Taiwan to preserve America's reputation. However, through...