South Korean films continue to set box-office records across Asia and win laurels in international film festivals. Meanwhile, little attention is given to the cinema from the other half of the peninsula. From May 12 to 14, 2008, three films from the DPRK’s canon will be screened as a special presentation in the Classic Movie Night series. The films—Hong Gil Dong, Bellflower, and My Look in the Distant Future—have been rarely… Read More

Katharina Zellweger, former North Korea country director for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, discussed current research on the issue of people with disabilities in North Korean society. Ms. Zellweger, who first visited the DPRK over 20 years ago, worked in North Korea from 2006-2011 on humanitarian aid and development assistance. People with Disabilities in a Changing North Korea with Katharina Zellweger, former North Korea Country Director for the Swiss… Read More

Knowing North Korea is a multi-part, multi-year series, showcasing social science research and scholarly findings to better understand the complexities surrounding North Korea. The Korea Society has hosted analysts, academics, journalists, aid workers, and refugees discussing North Korea. Read More

Marking a year since the release of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) Report on North Korea, Dr. Victor Cha, Senior Advisor and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Director of Asian Studies, Georgetown University, speaks to the significance of the report and steps forward. Dr. Cha will be joined by Lindsay Lloyd, Program Director at the Bush Institute, in conversation with The… Read More

State of the Rebalance Thomas Hubbard, US State Department/Korea Society/McLarty AssociateMay 23,2014   President Obama’s recent trip to Asia was a timely, perhaps necessary, reminder that the “rebalance” to Asia remains an important pillar of US foreign policy despite the distraction of immediate crises elsewhere in the world. During an unusually lengthy eight-day trip, Obama visited three treaty allies—Japan, Korea, and the Philippines—and a long-neglected friend, Malaysia. Reacting to the… Read More

During Kim Jong-un’s rule, North Korea’s unrelenting deprivation of fundamental human rights has, if possible, gotten even worse. North Koreans seek to flee the regime ruled by political prisons, torture, hunger, and public execution, completely void of fundamental rights or an adequate standard of living. The UN Commission of Inquiry condemned Pyongyang for “systemic, widespread, and gross violations of human rights” of such a monumental scale as to constitute crimes… Read More

As part of the Korea Economic Institute of America's Ambassadors' Dialogue Series, American Ambassador Sung Kim and Republic of Korea Ambassador Ahn Ho-young address current Peninsular economic and security issues, as well as the state of U.S.-Korea relations. Ambassadors’ Dialogue: U.S.- Korea Relations Tuesday, May, 13, 2014 11:30 AM | Registration & Luncheon 12:15 PM | Discussion Join our membership program here! E-News sign-up May 13, 2014 - Ambassadors Ahn… Read More

On March 28, 2014, Korean President Park Geun-hye delivered a historic address on Korean unification at the Dresden University of Technology in Dresden, Germany.   Friday, March 28, 2014   Park's Historic Dresden Address on Unification       Read More

Building on the momentum of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry Report on Human Rights in North Korea, The Korea Society has conducted a series of programs to shed light on North Korean Human Rights issue. Check out the latest programs below. North Korea Human Rights Join our membership program here! E-News sign-up Images   View the embedded image gallery online at: https://koreasociety.org/policy-and-corporate-programs/north-korea?start=170#sigProIde28cb13389 Read More

Amnesty International’s Frank Jannuzi discusses the release of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) report of North Korean human rights violations. The report follows an extensive year-long review, including testimony by victims of the regime.        Frank Jannuzi,  Deputy Executive Director of Advocacy, Policy and Research and Head of Washington, DC Office of Amnesty International In conversation with Dr. Stephen Noerper, Senior Vice President of The Korea Society… Read More