Cultural Relations
Review: Mirrorlands: Russia, China, and Journeys In Between by Ed Pulford
Across the length and breadth of the Sino-Russian border, Ed Pulford discusses continuity and change in this oft-overlooked corner of the world, providing insight on the state of relations between these two countries in years -past and decades to come.
North and South Korea Are Talking: Keep Expectations Low
It should have surprised nobody that Pyongyang would seek to capitalize on South Korea’s desire to host a positive, peaceful and perhaps even profitable Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next month. But how does the South Korean public feel about it?
Korean People’s Army Contacts with the Chinese Military
The perception that China and North Korea no longer have the extensive bilateral contacts that they once did may be broadly speaking correct, but it is by no means the whole story. Here, Adam Cathcart brings to our attention an official event from July 25, 2017.
Talking About the Unconscious: Interview with Professor Hyun Ok Park
Sino-NK interviews the author of a protean and provocative new book on transnational Korea.
Dead on Arrival? Taking Trade Notes in Dandong
Which North Koreans turned up in the Chinese city of Dandong for a recent trade fair? And does this event represent a real stabilization or upgrade in bilateral relations? Sino-NK reads the sources.
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.
North Korean Scholars and Koguryo: How to Reignite a Historical Controversy on Chinese National Day
With a host of signs popping up that ties between Beijing and Pyongyang are poor, and a few that suggest the opposite, Adam Cathcart looks at how the North Korean government is currently brandishing an unmistakable totem of clashing nationalisms.
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.
