Monthly Report V: June

1. Events within Wilson Center. In June there were three main events that I participated in. Firstly, there was the welcoming lunch for the new interns at North Korea International ation Project (NKIDP), where the news interns and staff grabbed something to eat from the food trucks (a very local thing) near the Metro Center station. Then there was the farewell lunch and dinner for the leaving NKIDP Asan interns, which took place at the Center and at a fast food Korean bibimbap restaurant somewhere in the city. Lastly, I participated in, “Contemporary North Korean Art: The Evolution of Social Realism,” where a prominent South Korean artist/professor based in D.C. came to the Center to share some interesting historical North Korean art.

2. Events outside of Wilson Center. During the month I attended one event that took place outside of the Center at CSIS and it was, “Inheritance Disputes Between South and North Korean Families: Examination of Landmark Cases and the Special Act,” excellently presented by a fellow Korea Foundation member.

3. Research progress. June was a hectic month because of the proximity of the final presentation. Firstly, there was the monthly research progress meeting that took place between me and my supervisor, where I informed him of how I was preparing for my presentation. Secondly, I visited the Library of Congress (LoC) numerous times in order to use Factiva, a newspaper database exclusively available at LoC, in order to investigate and collect data on Wall Street Journal’s portrayal of North Korea. Thirdly, I conducted a video interview with a North Korean defector, where I filmed her reactions upon seeing various scenes from American movies about North Korea, and asked her some follow-up questions relating to it. Once the interview was over, I also had the chance to eat lunch with her and personally talk about her astonishing life, as well as hear some realities of North Korea. Fourthly, I carried out an interview with Dr. Katharine Moon, an East Asian expert from Brookings Institution, on the problem of the American mass media’s depiction of North Korea and its implications on the two countries’ relationship. To be honest, I was quite nervous initially because it was my first time organizing and conducting an interview with such a prominent scholar; however, Dr. Moon’s down-to-earth, kind mannerisms as well as professionalism made me very relaxed and comfortable. Furthermore, she provided an excellent elaborate interview which resulted to be highly contributory for my research. Lastly, I carried out a public interview at George Washington University’s Gelman Library on Americans’ perception of North vs. South Korea. It proved to be very exhausting to recruit passersby in cooperating with the interview – especially amid the scorching hot weather; however, at the same time the whole process was not only enjoyable, but also rewarding when I got to hear each unique (yet at times, similar) response and at the end when I finally achieved my target sample size of ten people.

4. Assignment from within Center. During the end of June, my supervisor gave me one assignment due by the end of my program, and it was summarizing some new Korean language s.