Conceptions of identity in the north

Reviewed publication: Sun Joo Kim (ed.) 2010. The Northern Region of Korea: History, Identity & Culture. Seattle: University of Washington Press, ISBN: 9780295990415

Regional studies are still a rather exotic domain in Korean Studies, as practiced both in the Koreas and abroad. There is very little material on regional and local history. This is especially true for the Northern part of Korea, which for obvious reasons is more remote to most South Korean and foreign scholars who have little opportunity to visit North Korea and even less opportunity to do research there. It seems obvious that the dearth of material on the history of the north published in English is due to that very same reason. Another important factor is the sponsoring of Korean studies by South Korea based institutions, which seems to even more encourage a focus on the South. The book at hand is a step towards remedying these shortcomings of the current state of aff airs in academic Korean Studies.

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