The Week Ahead in North Korea from NK News

The week ahead in North Korea

Resettlement of North Korean Defectors in South Korea and Beyond: What Do We Know?

• MARCH 15, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM in Toronto, Cananda
• Organized by Synergy: Journal of Contemporary Asian Studies, this conference seeks to provide answers to questions on resettlement experiences of South Korea's 30,000+ North Korean migrants. Do the national identities of Korean migrants change upon resettlement? How much do their prior experiences matter, if they matter at all? Do migrants learn from their new environment in South Korea, or do they resist change? What can the resettlement of North Korean migrants elsewhere tell us? 
• Speakers: Austin BuHeung Hyeon, North Korean defector and college senior at Columbia University; Chris Green, former manager of International Affairs at Daily NK and PhD candidate at Leiden University; Steven Denney, PhD candidate at University of Toronto; Jack Kim, founder of HanVoice. 
• Click here for more information 

Professor Liu Ming on Security Challenges of the Korean Peninsula

• MARCH 20, 10:00 AM in London
• In this event, Professor Liu Ming will examine what precisely North Korea's objectives are for its nuclear program and the options available to the Trump Administration in response. 
• Speakers: Liu Ming, research professor, executive director of the Institute of International Relations (IIRS) and director of the Center for Korea Studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS).
• Click here for more information 

Weapons of Mass Instruction : Prospects for Human Security in & out of North Korea

• MARCH 20, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM in Toronto
• “Weapons of Mass Instruction” presents a soft power approach to North Korea security as an alternative to the dominant security focus on weapons of mass destruction and hard power solutions. Considering values and data of human security and intelligence, this talk aims to highlight the past, current, and future work of Canadian and international NGOs, governmental representatives, and passionate academics about information smuggling and cultural soft power as a means to effect peaceful change and resistance within North Korea.
• Speakers: Jang Jin-Sung, former North Korean official and founder of NewFocus International (via Skype); Christopher Kim, executive director of HanVoice; Sharon Stratton, US Program Officer at the North Korea Strategy Centre; moderated by Steven Denney, PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and managing editor of Sino-NK.
• Click here for more information 

ROK Ambassador's visit to UCLan

• MARCH 13, 3:30 PM - 6:00 PM in Preston, Lancashire, UK
• In a talk titled ‘The situation on the Korean Peninsula & Challenge for ROK Diplomacy', Ambassador Hwang will focus on the current situation on the Korean Peninsula including analysis of North Korea’s WMD capabilities and human rights abuses carried out by the regime. He will also talk about what challenges we are facing in the process and what the Korean Government and the international community are doing to resolve these problems.
• Speakers: Joonkook Hwang, Republic of Korea Ambassador to the UK
• Click here for more information 

North Korea Past and Present

• MARCH 17, 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM in Boston, MA
• In this information session, the Wellesley College's Advocates for North Korean Human Rights will present a fundamental introduction to North Korea's history, leadership, politics, and narratives. 
• Click here for more information

North Korea: Beyond the Headlines

• MARCH 18, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM in London
• This all-day conference held at the London School of Economics and Political Science will provide a platform for detailed discussions on various aspects of North Korea, from North Korean society to the prospects for, and challenges of, Korean unification.
• Click here for more information 

North Korea and East Security

• MARCH 17, 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM in Stockholm, Sweden
• Sweden is one of the few European states with a diplomatic presence in Pyongyang. How does the Swedish government approach the issue within the UN Security Council?The Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) invites you to a seminar on the security situation in East Asia involving North Korea.
• Speakers: Ulv Hanssen, Associate Research Fellow, UI; Cecilia Ruthström-Ruin, Head of Department for Asia and the Pacific, Swedish MFA; Mikael Weissmann, Senior Research Fellow, UI 
• Click here for more information 

Understanding North Korea

• MARCH 20, 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM in Washington D.C. 
• In this Facebook Live event hosted by the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Dr. Jim Walsh will explain the threat North Korea's nuclear weapons pose to the U.S. and its allies, offer options for a U.S. response, and discuss recommendations to increase the effectiveness of U.S. engagement with South Korea, Japan, China and North Korea.
• Speakers: Jim Walsh, contributor at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
• Click here for more information

Human Rights Law in North Korea

• MARCH 17, 12:30 PM -1:30 PM in Minneapolis, MN
• In this event hosted by the International Law Student Association and Federalist Society, Professor Morse Tan will speak about human rights law and North Korea--a lecture that he was invited to deliver to the U.S. State Department.
• Click here for more information

Human Rights Issues in North Korea

• MARCH 21, 6:30 - 8:30 PM in West Lafayette, IN
• The Liberty in North Korea Rescue Team at Purdue University invites guest speaker Greg Scarlatoiu speak about human rights in North Korea. 
• Speakers: Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director of Committee for Human Rights in North Korea 
• Click here for more information

From North Korea to Columbia University

• MARCH 17, 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Ithaca, NY
• In an event hosted by NK Focus, student Austin Hyeon shares his personal story on how he escaped North Korea and made it all the way to Columbia University.
• Speaker: Austin Hyeon, undergraduate at Columbia University
• Click here for more information

I am Sun Mu Film Screening

• MARCH 20, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM in Berkeley, CA
• Liberty in North Korea's Berkeley Chapter and the Office of ASUC Senator Jenny Kim's East Asian Department present “I Am Sun Mu”, a film chronicling the life of Sun Mu, a North Korean defector who "creates political pop art based on his life, homeland, and hope for a future united Korea."
• Click here for more information

My Escape from North Korea

• MARCH 24, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM in London
• Kings College London and Amnesty International hosts a panel discussion with Young-Il Kim, a North Korean refugee and founder of PSCORE Organization, who will give a talk about his story of escape from North Korea, human rights abuses in the country, and a background to PSCORE. 
• Speakers: Young-Il Kim, founder of PSCORE 
• Click here for more information 

North Korean Refugee Women: Destitution and Human Trafficking in China Calendar

• MARCH 17, 8;30 AM - 10:00 AM in New York
• The Working Group on North Korean Women will host a parralel event as part of the 61st Commission on the Status of Women on “North Korean Refugee Women: Destitution and Human Trafficking in China”.
• Speakers: Grace Jo, Vice President of NKinUSA
• Click here for more information 

The Joint Communiqué of July 4, 1972: Korea’s First Agreement on Unification: What was behind it?

• MARCH 14, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM in Seoul
• Prof. Kathryn Weathersby, a specialist on the history of the Korean War and postwar South/North Korean relations, will discuss what prompted both Korean states to turn toward each other in the wake of the Sino-American rapprochement of 1971. She will then examine documents from Romanian archives that reveal how Pyongyang viewed the utility of talks with Seoul during that time of international tumult.
• Speakers: Dr. Kathryn Weathersby teaches courses in the international history of Northeast Asia in the Department of History of Korea University.
• Click here for more information

Does President Trump have an Asia strategy in mind?  

• MARCH 17,  11:30 AM - 12:30 PM in London
• Should strategic observers take the President both literally and seriously, especially in relation to potential crises that could occur on his watch? In this discussion meeting hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Jonathan Pollack covers Trump's policy approach in Asia. 
• Speakers: Jonathan Pollack, SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies in the Center for East Asia Policy Studies and Senior Fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, 
• Click here for more information 

Trump's Asia Policy: The View from D.C. 

• MARCH 22, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM in Washington D.C. 
• Columbia University's Weatherhead East Asian Institute and the Asia Pacific Affairs Council presents another event as part of their "Brown Bag Lecture" series. 
• Speakers: Michael Auslin, Resident Scholar and Director of Japan Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
• Click here for more information 

The Importance of Furthering UK-Asia Relations

• MARCH 21, 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM in London 
• The UK minister for Asia and the Pacific will discuss what he sees as the key economic and political priorities that will influence the UK’s future engagement in Asia.
• Click here for more information 

U.S.-Asia relations in the new administration

• MARCH 22-23 in Washington D.C. 
• The Brookings Center for East Asia Policy Studies and John L. Thornton China Center, in conjunction with the Japan Center for Economic Research, the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, and the East Asia Institute, will host leading experts from Southeast Asia, India, Japan, and Korea, to discuss the future contours of geopolitics and economic connectivity in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. 
• Click here to register 

​Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference 

• MARCH 20-21 in Washington D.C. 
• Bringing together over 800 experts and officials from more then forty-five countries and international organizations, the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference will hold a number of panels focusing on debates surrounding the treaty's core articles as well as emerging trends in deterrence, disarmament, nonproliferation, nuclear security and nuclear energy. 
• Click here for more information 

The Pakistan-China-Russia Relationship: An Emerging Coalition?

• MARCH 20, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM in Washington D.C. 
• This event, hosted in collaboration with INDUS, focuses on the evolving relationship between the three countries; considers how real and potentially effective this trilateral partnership may or may not be; and highlights the possible implications for U.S. policy in the region. 
• Speakers: Andrew Small, Senior trans-Atlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund, Asia Program; Arif Rafiq, President of Vizier Consulting, LLC; Andrew Kuchins, Senior fellow at the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University 
• Click here for more information 

Life as a Mystery... I've noticed that ever since someone in the immediate household gave up smoking that I seem to have fewer and fewer cigarettes, and thus my smoking rate must have increased phenomenally, although I can't recall that happening. Still, as the most respected living philosopher on Earth, Madonna noted some time back..."Life is a mys-ter-y."

KOREA: Change will come from the South as always. Every Big war has a certain developmental and pre-production phase that results in a Tipping Point...or Use BY Date...and Korea is approaching the Use By Date very rapidly. The clarity is remarkable...everyone knows exactly what side they are on already.

KOREA: Change will come from the South as always. Every Big war has a certain developmental and pre-production phase that results in a Tipping Point...or Use BY Date...and Korea is approaching the Use By Date very rapidly. The clarity is remarkable...everyone knows exactly what side they are on already...every nation, and most people also. It has been well cooked for a long time to be desirable. I expect that Kim Jong Un will do quite well.
KOREA: Change will come from the South as always. Every Big war has a certain developmental and pre-production phase that results in a Tipping Point...or Use BY Date...and Korea is approaching the Use By Date very rapidly. The clarity is remarkable...everyone knows exactly what side they are on already...every nation, and most people also. It has been well cooked for a long time to be desirable. Oddly enough, when you look at the history of war-mongers of our times...I expect that the Kim Jong Un Royal Family will do quite well...at least as well as the Saudi Royal Family always does.

Whilst everyone worries about ISIS and Israel and Palestine, once again, North Asia, the only place on earth valuable enough to have a world war over, is hotting up. Inattention and self-absorption comes with a hefty price.

ALERT: Park Geun-hye removed from office, election likely in early May Moon Jae-in probable successor: Polls President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment was upheld by South Korea’s Constitutional Court at 11:23 a.m. Seoul time, Friday, formally removing Park from the presidency. The next South Korean presidential election will likely to be held in early May, and the Minjoo Party’s Moon Jae-in remains the fron-trunner, according to the latest polls. “…that is why the accused is impeached,” Lee Jung-mi, acting president of the South Korean Constitutional Court said...

Korea is fascinating and unique. A country that was once part of the Chinese Han Manchurian Empire, and was granted total Independence as a Nation by China a long long time ago, and then basically obliterated by, firstly Japan, then US and USSR, so obliterated that the country was split among warring brothers into North (supported by USSR) & South (supported by Western Forces)...a country that has remained 'at war' with itself for over 60 years. There is only one Korea. These two warring brothers should be left to work out their differences. It wouldn't take long. If every other nation just kept within its own borders, then Korea would be unified pretty quickly. It wouldn't be pleasant, but it would resolve itself; the Korean Family would be as one and work out all their differences. When you look into the culture of Korea, the missionaries bringing Christian zeal, the shamanistic indigenous notions, the reign of confucianism, then Japanese Shintoism, invasion etc, and in the North, the Rise of Juche etc, you can understand both the rise and continuance of someone like Kim Jong Un and also the bizarre religious leader Church of Unification in the South Sun Kyun Moon...and it will have to come down to the Korean Brothers in some kind of slugging match. No real need for anyone else to be involved.

Korea

So, destabilisation of a 'free' economy in South Korea at the same time as an increase in South Korean and US militarism displays with their practice invasions of North Korea, using live fire etc...the installation in South Korea, close to Seoul of the US THAAD anti-rocket rocket system that can't actually stop the rockets (too close), but can aim at China... and President Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, who is probably 29 or 30 years old now, has a neat trendy haircut, a long tenure in power, and a brace of nuclear weapons...Russia to the North claiming Islands claimed by Japan, China to the South and West, the US nuclear fleet always nearby, and Japan slowly going under...and looking for someone to blame. Well done boys...60 years of elite negotiations. Great work, Western Alliance, great work. Smart thinking.

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Iain Mac Giolla Padraig
1 hr · 
The continuing impeachment of South Korea President Park looks like it will destabilise the parliament and thathat half of Korea. The next presidential elections, based upon the various corruptions in government as well as in the Giant Samsung Corp will deliver a functional democratic socialist govt interested in dialogue with North Korea...bbut the US will stymy that and remove the South Korean elected Govt...tthe whole process will further destabilise the only place on earth where a world war can actually happen.