Author Archive

No Love for Welfare in South Korea

By | February 06, 2015

South Koreans support welfare retrenchment if it means resolving the country’s financial woes, a recent Real Meter poll finds. However, they are also apt to support more taxes on corporations. Steven Denney translates.

Recent Reproductions of South Korean “National Hero” Ahn Jung-geun

By | January 31, 2015

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

By | January 12, 2015

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

By | November 03, 2014

“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

By | September 17, 2014

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.