Art and Performance
A Roundtable Review of Shine Choi’s Re-Imagining North Korea in International Politics
In a new “neutron star” of a book, sociologist Shine Choi delves into the many ways of seeing North Korea. Sino-NK reviews the argumentative battlefield.
Purges, Baekdu, and the Moranbong Band: Data Points around General Hyon
Using music as a medium, Adam Cathcart takes the field of debate regarding the alleged purge and execution of Hyon Yong-chol into the ultra-politicized realm of concert halls and power stations.
Spaces of Leisure: The Socialist Modern at Rest and Play
In this final essay of a new triliogy, Robert Winstanley-Chesters traces connections between early repertoires of promenading on the banks of the Taedong and contemporary watery manifestations at Munsu and Rungna.
German Shepherds and German Musical Politics in North Korea
Among the elite music academies of Pyongyang, performances take place of German symphonic literature and avant-garde contemporary music; our editor-in-chief assesses the scene.
Spaces of Leisure: From Cinematic Birth to Physical Culture
Considering the development of leisure and entertainment in North Korea Robert Winstanley-Chesters tracks its movement from initial strategies focusing on the purely ideologic, political or cultural, to a return in the 1970s to a focus on sporting activity and spatiality.