North Korean studies is a sub-area of

Korean studies Korean studies is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of Korea, which includes the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and diasporic Korean populations. Areas commonly included under this rubric include Ko ...

. The number of researchers is comparatively small. The only fully dedicated institution to the study area is the

University of North Korean Studies The University of North Korean Studies () is a university in Seoul, South Korea that was founded in 2005 by merging Kyungnam University's North Korean studies department founded in 1997 and the Far East Problems Research Centre (극동문제연� ...

, Seoul, but many universities run undergraduate courses and postgraduate research programs. The field has been unable to achieve consensus on even some fundamental questions, such as whether North Korea should be characterized as a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

state and what is the level of involvement of the government in human right abuses. North Korean studies suffers from a lack of

primary sources In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...

from the country, although the situation varies by decade. Sources from the 1940s are mostly Soviet documents available from archives. Documents from the 1950s are harder to come by. Some were smuggled out of the country, but the bulk of scholarship is done on reports of

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

embassies in North Korea. , Soviet documents from the 1960s are in the process of being declassified, but sources from Eastern European countries are already available. The availability of documents from the 1950s and especially the 1960s is contrasted with the fact that most of that which happened in North Korea took place outside of diplomatic circles, and foreign diplomats were given less and less information as time passed. Sources from the 1970s and 1980s are especially scarce outside of a selection of official publications. Beginning with the 1990s, scholarship has relied on testimonies of

North Korean defectors Since the division of Korea after the end of World War II, North Koreans have fled from the country in spite of legal punishment for political, ideological, religious, economic, moral, personal, or nutritional reasons. Such North Koreans are re ...

Academic departments

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

Dongguk University Dongguk University (Korean: 동국대학교, Hanja: 東國大學校) is a private, coeducational university in South Korea, fundamentally based on Buddhism. Established in 1906 as Myeongjin School (명진학교; 明進學校) by Buddhist pioneers ...

, 50 students *

University of Central Lancashire , mottoeng = "From the Earth to the Sun" , established = as Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledgere-established 1992 (University status granted) , type = Public , chancellor ...

br>MA North Korean Studies

DPRK Strategic Research Center

KIMEP University KIMEP University (formerly: Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research) is an institution of higher education in Almaty, Kazakhstan. KIMEP is a private, non-profit university offering credit-based, North American-style bac ...

Academic projects

North Korea International Documentation Project The North Korea International Documentation Project (NKIDP) is part of the History and Public Policy Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. It seeks to serve as an informational clearinghouse on North Korea for both the s ...

, NKIDP

Journals and webpages

* ''

38 North ''38 North'' is a website devoted to analysis about North Korea. Its name refers to the 38th parallel north which passes through the Korean peninsula and from 1945 until the start of the Korean War in 1950 divided the peninsula into North and Sou ...

'' - analysis website formerly at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, now at

The Stimson Center The Stimson Center, named after American statesman, lawyer, and politician Henry L. Stimson, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that aims to enhance international peace and security through analysis and outreach. The center's stated approach ...

*''Hyundae Pukhan Yongu - Contemporary North Korean Studies'' (현대 북한 연구) * ''

NK News NK News is an American subscription-based news website that provides stories and analysis about North Korea. Established in 2011, it is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea with reporters in Washington, D.C. and London. Reporting is based on infor ...

'' - a news website * ''

Daily NK ''Daily NK'' is an online newspaper based in Seoul, South Korea, where it reports on various aspects of North Korean society from information obtained from inside and outside of North Korea via a network of informants. North Korea is ranked 179 ...

'' - a news and opinion website * ''Sino-NK'' - an independent periodical * ''

North Korea Review North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

'' - previously published by the

Jamestown Foundation The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which ...

* ''

North Korean Review ''North Korean Review'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Institute for North Korean Studies (INKS), at the University of Detroit Mercy in the United States. The journal was established in 2005 by INKS and McFarland & ...

'' - an English-language academic journal fully devoted to North Korean studies by

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the "SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in the ...

North Korea Tech North Korea Tech is a US-based blog authored by British journalist Martyn Williams which covers consumer electronics and technology developments in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It was established in 2010. North Korea Tech is based in ...

- technology analysis blog, affiliated with ''38 North'' * ''Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights'' - Quarterly journal (1996-2012) * ''International Journal of Korean Unification Studies'' *
Routledge Research on Korea Series
'.

Other DPRK-focussed institutions conducting research

Committee for Human Rights in North Korea The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), formerly known as the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, is a Washington, D.C.-based non-governmental research organization that "seeks to raise awareness about conditions in Nort ...

Database Center for North Korean Human Rights The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (commonly referred to as NKDB) is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, that conducts data collection, analysis, and monitoring of human rights violatio ...

Korea Institute for National Unification The Korea Institute for National Unification is a think tank funded by the South Korean government focusing on issues related to Korean reunification. History In 1990, the institute was established as a hub of research on North Korea. In 2010, ...

People for Successful Corean Reunification People for Successful Corean Reunification (PSCORE) is a non-governmental organization based in Seoul, South Korea, and Washington D.C. in the United States. PSCORE addresses potential barriers to Korea reunification, suggests alternatives, and w ...

References

External links

NORTH KOREAN STUDIES - СЕВЕРОКОРЕЙСКИЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ
Articles and links to Web sites about contemporary North Korean society and politics, relations with Russia and Australia, and Soviet Koreans. *
Sino-NK
' {{Authority control