The Korea Society

October 25, 2016 - This presentation by Brandon Gauthier will examine how portrayals of North Korea by the U.S. government and popular media diminished the possibility of diplomatic cooperation between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea) over the second half of the twentieth century.  It will specifically argue that policymakers and journalists, among other observers in U.S. society, primarily made sense of the DPRK’s often-brutal actions by describing it as either a puppet of the Soviet Union and China or as an irrational actor incapable of pragmatic dialogue.  These reductive caricatures—a product, in part, of evolving ideologies in American society related to the Cold War, foreign policy, and race—blinded policymakers to the nationalistic motives behind North Korea’s decision-making and led the general public to misunderstand events in Korea.  While analyzing how intertwined links between culture and national identity influenced American foreign policy in East Asia, this discussion thus highlights the fundamental misperceptions that so often shaped U.S. decision-making vis-à-vis the DPRK since the Korean War.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/changing_american_perceptions_of_north_korea_since_1948.html

October 25, 2016 - This presentation by Brandon Gauthier will examine how portrayals of North Korea by the U.S. government and popular media diminished the possibility of diplomatic cooperation between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea) over the second half of the twentieth century.  It will specifically argue that policymakers and journalists, among other observers in U.S. society, primarily made sense of the DPRK’s often-brutal actions by describing it as either a puppet of the Soviet Union and China or as an irrational actor incapable of pragmatic dialogue.  These reductive caricatures—a product, in part, of evolving ideologies in American society related to the Cold War, foreign policy, and race—blinded policymakers to the nationalistic motives behind North Korea’s decision-making and led the general public to misunderstand events in Korea.  While analyzing how intertwined links between culture and national identity influenced American foreign policy in East Asia, this discussion thus highlights the fundamental misperceptions that so often shaped U.S. decision-making vis-à-vis the DPRK since the Korean War.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/changing_american_perceptions_of_north_korea_since_1948.html

October 21, 2016 - Georgetown University professor and CSIS Korea chair Victor Cha discusses Powerplay, his new book that examines the evolution and importance of America's alliances with Korea and other nations in East Asia. Cha argues that the US must maximize stability and economic progress amid Asia’s increasingly complex political landscape. In conversation with senior director Stephen Noerper. A book signing follows.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/powerplay_the_origins_of_the_american_alliance_system_in_asia.html

October 21, 2016 - Georgetown University professor and CSIS Korea chair Victor Cha discusses Powerplay, his new book that examines the evolution and importance of America's alliances with Korea and other nations in East Asia. Cha argues that the US must maximize stability and economic progress amid Asia’s increasingly complex political landscape. In conversation with senior director Stephen Noerper. A book signing follows.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/powerplay_the_origins_of_the_american_alliance_system_in_asia.html

October 13, 2016 - Tchah Sup Kim has experimented with a wide variety of genres and methods, including pop art, geometric abstraction, mail art, readymade objects, environmental art, and minimalism. Although the styles and materials have changed over time, Kim’s artwork always expresses a quest for the transcendent—as well as a critique of the Western-centric perspective.

Born in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture, Kim and his family moved to Gyeongju, Korea, in 1944.  He graduated from Seoul National University in 1963 and represented Korea at the Biennale de Paris in 1966. In 1974, a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation enabled him to study at the Pratt Institute in New York.

Kim’s work was exhibited in the National Print Exhibition, 20th Biennial: 30 Years of American Printmaking at the The Brooklyn Museum (1976), Prints: Acquisitions, 1973-1976 at the Museum of Modern Art (1977), and Six Artists from Korea at the Grace Borgenicht Gallery (1995). The Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwachon, Korea, the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cincinnati Art Museum all include Kim’s work in their permanent collections.
 
This exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Dongwha Cultural Foundation.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/arts-culture/exhibition/prometheus_the_art_of_tchah_sup_kim.html

October 13, 2016 - Tchah Sup Kim has experimented with a wide variety of genres and methods, including pop art, geometric abstraction, mail art, readymade objects, environmental art, and minimalism. Although the styles and materials have changed over time, Kim’s artwork always expresses a quest for the transcendent—as well as a critique of the Western-centric perspective.

Born in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture, Kim and his family moved to Gyeongju, Korea, in 1944.  He graduated from Seoul National University in 1963 and represented Korea at the Biennale de Paris in 1966. In 1974, a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation enabled him to study at the Pratt Institute in New York.

Kim’s work was exhibited in the National Print Exhibition, 20th Biennial: 30 Years of American Printmaking at the The Brooklyn Museum (1976), Prints: Acquisitions, 1973-1976 at the Museum of Modern Art (1977), and Six Artists from Korea at the Grace Borgenicht Gallery (1995). The Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwachon, Korea, the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cincinnati Art Museum all include Kim’s work in their permanent collections.
 
This exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Dongwha Cultural Foundation.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/arts-culture/exhibition/prometheus_the_art_of_tchah_sup_kim.html

September 29, 2016 - Dr. Minjung Lee, visiting scholar at University of California Davis, outlines the evolution of traditional attire throughout Korean history, reveals her research methods, and shares tales about her career as a costume designer for KBS television dramas.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/korean-studies/lectures/royal_threads_historical_representations_in_costume_design.html

September 29, 2016 - Dr. Minjung Lee, visiting scholar at University of California Davis, outlines the evolution of traditional attire throughout Korean history, reveals her research methods, and shares tales about her career as a costume designer for KBS television dramas.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/korean-studies/lectures/royal_threads_historical_representations_in_costume_design.html

October 6, 2016 - Mansfield Foundation president Frank Jannuzi and NCNK executive director Keith Luse, both former senior advisors to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, discuss the positions of candidates Clinton and Trump respective to Korea and Asia with Stephen Noerper.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/korea_east_asia_and_the_us_presidential_election.html

October 6, 2016 - Mansfield Foundation president Frank Jannuzi and NCNK executive director Keith Luse, both former senior advisors to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, discuss the positions of candidates Clinton and Trump respective to Korea and Asia with Stephen Noerper.

For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/korea_east_asia_and_the_us_presidential_election.html