Category Archives: Journal

CHRIS WEARDEN, SOAS University of London History, Heritage, and Legend in Colonial-Era Tourism: Kyŏngju and P’yŏngyang as Sites of Ideological Contestation

Abstract This article explores how historical sites in colonial Korea became arenas of ideological contestation between dominant and counter-hegemonic forces. This contestation is exposed through the production and consumption of heritage tourism, using the former dynastic capitals of Kyŏngju and P’yŏngyang as case studies. Employing a comparative model, the article explores the politics of herita……

ANNA JUNGEUN LEE, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign New Woman and Colonial Materiality: “How To” Articles and Everyday Consumption

Abstract This article focuses on materiality as a frame to reanimate analysis of the concept of the “New Woman” in colonial Korea through a review of magazine articles that contain practical guidelines and reports about the daily life and consumption patterns of New Women. While frequently addressed as a subject, many studies about the New…

AH-REUM KIM, Hokkaido University Modernizing the Notion of Domesticity in Early and Mid-Colonial Korea: Family Harmony, Conjugal Love, and Kyoyang (Self-Cultivation)

Abstract This study aims to investigate the historical development of modern domesticity in early and mid-colonial Korea. It demonstrates how the modern ideas of selfhood and love were integrated into the notion of domesticity, establishing the ideals of conjugal love and family harmony. Focusing on the media practices of the women’s magazine Shin’gajŏng, the article…

JAIME GONZÁLEZ-BOLADO, Autonomous University of Barcelona Discovering Korea through Iberian Writings of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Abstract This article analyzes ethnographic information about the Korean peninsula that can be found in texts produced by Iberian missionaries during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Although Korea did not generate the same degree of interest as neighboring countries such as China and Japan in which Catholic missions had been established, members of religious orders…

YORDANA STOYANOVA, Korea University, BERNHARD SELIGER, Hallym University of Graduate Studies and Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea), and JOHANNES HOLLUNDER, University of Konstanz Bulgaria–North Korea Relations: Past Experiences and Future Opportunities

Abstract Ties between Bulgaria and North Korea date back to the aftermath of World War II. Under Soviet hegemony, relations between the two countries have experienced both phases of cooperation and times of distress. Nowadays, despite significantly more distant relations, both countries maintain exchange in education and culture as well as by operating embassies in…

PAVEL EM, EHESS Coming Out of the Shadow: What Infill Development Can Tell Us about North Korea

Abstract Although cities can be likened to “mirrors” of society, North Korean urbanity still does not attract the attention it deserves from scholars, who focus almost exclusively on the grandiose residential districts of Pyongyang. In contrast, this piece claims that there is another important form of urban development in Pyongyang, namely infill towers, and discusses…