The Korean-born, German-educated, life-long New Yorker, Nam June Paik (1932-2006) coined the phrase “the electronic superhighway” long before the Internet was born. A consummate shape-shifter — classical composer, subversive trickster, pioneer of experimental “interventions” (he called “action music”) and, according to friends, speaker of nine languages (all badly). Paik’s influences ranged from Hegel to Schoenberg, from traditional Korean dance to Buddhism, space travel, and beyond. Debut filmmaker Amanda Kim’s captivating,… Read More

Traditional Korean Painting for Modern Times: In Seongmin Ahn’s paintings, it is not our past we are looking at but our possible future. - John Yau, Hyperallergic In her solo exhibition at The Korea Society, Seongmin Ahn presents a series of paintings and wall installations that fuses her insight in the relativity of perception with a deep regard for traditional Korean art, especially minhwa–folk painting. In her work, Ahn begins… Read More

“[Han] is not an easy word to understand. It has generally been understood as a sort of resentment. But I think it means both sadness and hope at the same time. You can think of Han as the core of life, the pathway leading from birth to death. . .” Park Kyongni (1994) An ancient dance is performed under a neon light. A virgin ghost stares out of the TV.… Read More

Join us for a conversation with Dr. John Delury, Professor of Chinese Studies at Yonsei University, on his new book, Agents of Subversion: The Fate of John T. Downey and the CIA's Covert War in China.This roundtable and pre-recorded video explores a Korean War era mission in China that went wrong, resulting in the 20-year imprisonment of an American operative named John T. Downey. "Agents of Subversion is an innovative… Read More