Korean War
Hagiography of the Kims and the Childhood of Saints: Kim Jong-il
Christopher Richardson examines the mythological narrative of Kim Jong-il’s genesis, uncovering the carefully constructed combination of religion, half-truths, and state propaganda.
“Victory Day,” the Canonization of Kim Jong-il, and North Korean Succession Politics
Why did the North Korean commemorations of the July 27, 1953 Armistice dwell so heavily on Kim Jong-il, who was just a child during the Korean War? Adam Cathcart investigates how shifting histories in Pyongyang are laying the groundwork for ongoing succession narratives for the present leader.
Yongusil 31: Kraus, Cumings, Kim, and Cathcart on North Korean Captured Documents
Study and scholarship focused on North Korea necessarily moves through a historical hinterland. A key panel at this years’ Association of Asian Studies Conference examined the buried, semi-hidden narratives revealed in Record Group 242, the Captured Documents Collection at the US National Archives.
Chinese Anxieties and Korean War Commemorations
As we consider and reconsider changes in Chinese-North Korean relations that have unfolded over the past year, a look back at the Korean War commemorations this past July is more than appropriate. Adam Cathcart translates Huanqiu Shibao and meditates on the utility and trauma of the Korean War as history.
Yongusil 22: Record Group 242
After reading Dr. Suzy Kim’s fascinating work, where exactly can one encounter the revolutionary everyday? Ben Young investigates primary source Record Group 242.
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