The Korea Society shares pre-performance insights and tackles patron Q&A on North Korea as part of the world premiere of Korean-American playwright Mia Chung’s You for Me for You; Chung has been hailed as “one of the most imaginative young writers of her generation.” Directed by Yury Urnov, the production portrays two North Korean sisters who face starvation and bargain with a smuggler to flee to the United States. When one of the sisters is denied passage because she is too weak to make the treacherous... Read More

In this latest installment of The Korea Society’s highly popular series on China-North Korea relations, Harvard University Belfer Center Associate and MIT Stanton Foundation Fellow John Park reviews new developments, with an eye toward regime consolidation in Pyongyang, party-to-party relations, and the evolution of Chinese-style economic zones in North Korea. Dr. Park previously worked at the U.S. Institute of Peace, in Goldman Sachs's public finance group, as project leader of the Harvard Kennedy School's... Read More

The music of rare and exceptional artistic expression from North Korea will be showcased at the Korea Society as part of its Korean Traditional Music Series. Eun Sun Jung, an award-winning and talented young kayagŭm (12 and 25 string zither) artist from Seoul, Korea, presents some of the folk music of North Korea, selected for its vibrant folk music style and its contemporary interpretation of older traditions. This includes the well-known folk songs of Paek Toraji (White Bellflower)... Read More

What is the current state of malnutrition in North Korea and need for food? How should the international community respond? What measures are in place to make certain that food goes to those in need? Should nutritional assistance come with progress in negotiations or other openings? This fourth and final installment of this summer’s Knowing North Korea series features the head of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Pyongyang, Claudia von Roehl, who will address the fact and fiction... Read More

How does one analyze North Korea developments? Is it possible to get a clear read and, if so, in what areas? Is North Korea a “black box” or more knowable, especially with new openings? This third installment of this summer’s Knowing North Korea series features Dr. Sue Terry, Managing Director at Gerson Global Advisors, a strategic investment and advisory firm based in New York. In this role, she co-heads the Sovereign Advisory business and is primarily responsible for developing and managing the firm's... Read More

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... Read More

Feast or Famine features 23 original posters from the Katharina Zellweger Collection. Zellweger collected over 100 posters during her tenure as the director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation program in Pyongyang from 2006 to 2011. This selection, rarely seen outside of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, centers around issues related to agriculture, animal husbandry, and food production. Created for a domestic audience and produced by government-run studios, the posters were designed to... Read More

What is it like to be posted in Pyongyang? What are the limitations and opportunities of reporting from a closed state? What are myths or where are hidden truths? The second installment of this summer’s Knowing North Korea series features Ivan Zakharchenko, United Nations Bureau Chief for RIA-Novosti. Zakharchenko was posted to Pyongyang for a half-decade and enjoyed unique exposure given Russia’s special relationship with North Korea. He writes broadly on international affairs, with a special eye toward U.S.-North... Read More

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... Read More

Author and journalist Blaine Harden speaks about his remarkable and harrowing account of refugee Shin Dong-hyuk’s birth into and eventual escape from the North Korean gulag. A monumental and moving book, Harden reveals the hardships of prison life and provides a lasting testimony to the endurance of the human spirit. This literary event features a special display of refugee artwork. Book Cafe: Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West with Blaine Harden Author and... Read More