Author Archive
Recent Reproductions of South Korean “National Hero” Ahn Jung-geun
One can learn a lot about a nation by who is elevated to the status of “national hero.” Here, Steven Denney reviews two recent cultural products concerning independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun, juxtaposing them against Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper.”
All You Need Is Love? Shin Eun-mi’s Interview with OhMyNews.com
Shin Eun-mi, who was recently deported from South Korea for making “pro-North Korea” remarks, was interviewed in 2012 by OhMyNews about her trips to North Korea and what they meant for her. Her answers are illustrative. Steven Denney translates.
Yongusil 52: Afterlives and Critical Histories at the University of Toronto
“The Afterlives of the Korean War,” a symposium hosted by the Centre for the Study of Korea at the University of Toronto, hosted a number of scholars whose work falls outside the normal remit of scholarship on the Korean War and its consequences. Steven Denney writes about the significance of alternative perspectives.
Svoliking in the High Grass: New Approaches to Understanding Authoritarian Regimes
Steven Denney reviews a few key works on “the politics of authoritarianism,” providing researchers with multiple comparative frameworks for understanding North Korea as authoritarian regime.
National Identity and Historical Legacy: Ahn Jung-geun in the Grand Narrative
Take the slow train to Harbin and you’ll arrive right at the locus of fractious Northeast Asian history: the spot where Korean nationalist Ahn Jung-geun killed the first Resident-General of Korea Ito Hirobumi in 1909. With support from an Academy of Korean Studies grant, Steven Denney and Christopher Green try to get behind the national narrative(s).
World Values Survey Data and the Resilience of Materialist Values in South Korea
Most of the advanced industrial nations of the world have undergone a post-material transition, as the latest wave of World Values Survey (WVS) data shows. However, materialist values have greater resistance in South Korea. Why? Steven Denney sifts through the data and the theory that underpins it.
Bullet Trains and Wood-Burning Trucks
In an effort to cut down travel time and spur economic growth, China is lacing high-speed rail throughout its northeastern provinces. Lessons abound for North Korea, as this essay from eastern Jilin indicates.
Nationalism in an Era of Strength and Prosperity: Politics and People in Post-Developmental South Korea
In the fall of last year, South Korea sent tanks, soldiers, and missiles down the streets of central Seoul in the largest military parade seen there in almost a decade. Steven Denney and Karl Friedhoff, writing for CSIS’s PacNet Newsletter, looked for broader societal changes beyond the pomp of the parade.
History and Revolution: An Interview with Dr. Suzy Kim
Steven Denney speaks with Dr. Suzy Kim (Rutgers University) about the DPRK’s tangled origins, the impact of Bruce Cumings, and her new book: Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950.
