Natalia Kim – Political Memoirs and Collective Memory in South Korea- Turning Points in the Autobiographical Writings of Kim Taejung and No Muhyŏn – Pages 1-24

Introduction Emerging as an independent nation in 1948, South Korea went through a difficult phase of political development shifting from a martial and authoritarian regime toward a liberal–democratic one. The April Revolution in 1960, the May 16 coup in 1961, the October Yusin in 1972, the Kwangju Uprising in 1980, and the June Democratic Uprising…

Robert Winstanley-Chesters – Pragmatism And Revolution- North Korean Pomiculture, 1958–1967 – Pages 117-128

Abstract Building on past analysis by its author of North Korea’s history of developmental approach and environmental engagement, this paper encounters the field of pomiculture (or orchard development and apple farming) in the light of another key text authored by Kim Il-sung, 1963’s “Let Us Make Better Use of Mountains and Rivers.” At this time…

Benjamin Young – The Struggle For Legitimacy- North Korea’s Relations With Africa, 1965–1992 – Pages 97-116

Abstract From the mid-1960s to the late 1980s, Seoul and Pyongyang sought to gain international recognition as the sole government on the Korean peninsula. Africa, the site of many newly independent nations during the Cold War, became the primary battleground for this inter- Korean competition. Focusing on North Korean-African relations, this article examines several African…

Victoria Ten – Technologies Of Self In Contemporary Korea- The Notion Of Suryŏn (修練) In GiCheon (氣天) – Pages 76-96

Abstract GiCheon (氣天) is one of many contemporary South Korean mind-body disciplines focused on physical and moral self-cultivation. Utilizing a series of interviews with the adherents of this movement, this paper examines their individual experience and understanding of GiCheon praxis in the new social and political context, revealing the mechanisms of self-construction in modern and…

Anna Noh – Religion And Political Identity- Korean Protestantism In The Power Structures Of Early South Korea, 1945–1948 – Pages 45-59

Abstract Throughout the history of post-1945 Korea, evangelical Protestants in South Korea reinforced their political, economic, and cultural ascendancy over the country with extensive economic and administrative supports from the US government as well as missionaries from that country. This paper will examine in what ways Korean evangelical Protestantism gained hegemonic power in nation-building… Members…

Shinyoung Kwon – Promoting Mass Movements- A New Perspective On Japanese Wartime Imperialism In Korea – Pages 1-22

Abstract This article aims to explore the Japanese colonial government’s efforts to promote mass movements in Korea which rose suddenly and showed remarkable growth throughout the 1930s. It focuses on two Governor-Generals and the directors of the Education Bureau who created the Social Indoctrination movements under Governor-General Ugaki Kazushige in the early 1930s and the…

Christopher Green and Steven Denney – ‘An Institutional Approach to Economic Reform and Development- Towards a Developmental Understanding of North Korea’ – Pages 88-111

North Korea is not an average low-income state with a moribund national economy. The outcome of the state’s Suryŏngist-Sŏn’gun ideological and economic structure is a well-run, sector-specific economy within a neglected national economy, all ordered around the maintenance of the ruling system, which is led and tightly controlled by the Kim family. However, the pockets…

Bul-chul Shin and Il han Bae – ‘North Korea’s Dual Network of Mobile Telecommunications Systems and the Futures of the Korean Peninsula’ – Pages 71-87

This paper provides a history of North Korea’s telecommunications system which was first introduced in 2002 and analyses the emergence of a dual network system: the official network fully controlled by the Government, and the unofficial network which was begun for business communications by Chinese residents in North Korea and now is used by the…