North Korean studies is a sub-area of
Korean studies. The number of researchers is comparatively small.
The only fully dedicated institution to the study area is the
University of North Korean Studies, 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 ...
or
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 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, 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
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 th ...
, 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, now at The Stimson Center
*''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
Routledge Research on Korea Series
'.
Other DPRK-focussed institutions conducting research
* Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
See also
* Media coverage of North Korea
* :Experts on North Korea
References
Further reading
*
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
'
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