Pyongyang via Almaty: Post-Socialist Visions of North Korea

The goal of this panel is to reveal new perspectives on North Korea through the artistic and literary work of three recent visitors to it. What distinguishes these visitors is that each of them is an expert of the former Soviet Union’s Korean diaspora, or Koryo Saram, members of which helped to establish North Korea in the 1940s and 50s. Thus, the panel will look at contemporary North Korea through Koryo Saram eyes–Pyongyang via Almaty, Kazakhstan. It will use the experiences of Soviet-led socialism and its collapse to explore this little-known country beyond the limits of totalitarianism.

Y. David Chung, Professor of Art & Design, University of Michigan
“Pyongyang: Homeland of the Imaginary”Alexander Kan, Writer
“Lasting Call: My Return to North Korea”

Lisa Sangmi Min, Ph.D. Student, Anthropology, UC Berkeley 
“Meet Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Shin”

Moderator: Steven Lee, Assistant Professor of English, UC BerkeleySponsors: Center for Korean Studies; Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies