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Featured in the Media
2025
KPI Associate Dae-Han Song On On South Korean ex-President Yoon was toppled by the people
April 13, 2025
The December 2024 coup attempt of South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk-yeol was defeated because the people mobilised in protest against his declaration of marshal law and this emboldened the National Assembly to impeach him. On 4 April the Constitutional Court, in a unanimous decision, accepted the impeachment and removed Yoon from office. A Presidential election has now been scheduled for 3 June. KPI Associate Dae-Han Song, in discussion with Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, explains how these events have unfolded and the what to expect from the forthcoming Presidential election.
April 11, 2025
"Crisis of Historical Subjectivity" - KPI Associate Namhee Lee uses this phrase to describe the Korean people's experience of 'failed history' and their collective effort to overcome that past. This is the story of "disguised employees" - South Korea's intellectuals who left high-paying jobs to instead work on the factory floor with the aim of bringing about democratic change.
KPI Associate Dae-Han Song On South Korea - After the failed coup
March 11, 2025
Dae-Han Song discusses with Mikaela Nhondo Erskog last December’s attempted coup in South Korea - why it took place, how it was defeated and the effect that will have on the country’s politics.
March 9, 2025
Tim Shorrock speaks with Scott Horton about the tumultuous last three months in South Korea and the potential for Trump to finally make some serious progress on relations with North Korea. They start with a look at the martial law episode that TKed South Korea last December. Shorrock explains the characters involved and lays out what’s likely to happen next. He and Scott then zoom out and think through what the Trump administration may do differently with North and South Korea this time around.
KPI Associate Moe Taylor On Tricontinentalism: North Korea in Havana & Georgetown
February 24, 2025
Rudy talks with Moe Taylor, author of North Korea, Tricontinentalism, and the Latin American Revolution, 1959–1970 to explore the overlooked role of North Korea in the revolutionary internationalist movement of the 1960s, particularly its influence on Latin America and the Global South. They highlight how the DPRK, alongside Cuba and Vietnam, contributed to Tricontinentalism -a movement distinct from Soviet and Chinese approaches to internationalism. The conversation delves into North Korea’s attraction to Cuba, its navigation of the Sino-Soviet split, and its support for Latin American revolutionary movements. The discussion also examines Guyana’s unique position in the Cold War, from Cheddi Jagan’s ousting with U.S. backing to Forbes Burnham’s later embrace of “cooperative socialism,” influenced by North Korea’s emphasis on discipline and self-reliance. The episode concludes by analyzing why this period of North Korean influence waned, while still maintaining ties with Guyana and African nations into the 1980s.
KPI Board Member Martin Hart-Landsberg On FDR’s Wartime Strategies Can Power a Just Transition Now
January 31, 2025
In part two, economist Martin Hart-Landsberg underscores the importance of planning for a just transition and transformation of socio-economic relations. Hart-Landsberg examines FDR’s Defense Production Corporation and War Production Board which were established to coordinate the U.S. economy’s rapid conversion from civilian to military production. The entrepreneurial class largely opposed these changes, fearing cuts to their bottom line. Yet FDR’s government, through experimentation with different strategies, was able to successfully allocate resources towards wartime production and negotiate enough procurement contracts to drive the conversion. Hart-Landsberg’s historical analysis of the successes and challenges of FDR’s WWII production model lends important insights for solidaristic organizing and eco-socialist activism.
January 18, 2025
Despite being (mis)characterized by the IMF as a free-market “success story,” South Korea’s development model involved state planning and import controls for decades prior to the 1997 East Asia debt crisis. Economist Martin Hart-Landsberg, KPI Board Member and Professor Emeritus at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, explains how capitalist globalization materialized and morphed in East Asia, often to the detriment of its worker population. With Trump’s inauguration nearing, Hart-Landsberg sheds light on why contemporary U.S.-China hawks view China as a threat rather than a technological competitor.
KPI Board Chair Paul Liem On What’s Next for South Korea’s Impeached President?
December 7, 2024
KPI Board Chair speaks with 94.1 KPFA (Begins at 8:05)
2024
KPI Associate Dae-Han Song On ‘North Korean Infiltration’: The Lie Behind Martial Law in South Korea
December 6, 2024
KPI Associate Dae-Han Song, with the International Strategy Center and a member of the No Cold War collective, speaks with BreakThrough News and explains South Korea’s escalating political crisis as President Yoon Suk Yeol faces growing calls for his resignation after declaring—and then rescinding—emergency martial law to target so-called “pro-North Korean forces.” Song says upon the martial law announcement, South Koreans immediately “dropped what they were doing and rushed to the National Assembly” and that Yoon’s subsequent reversal “was only possible because the people mobilized.”
KPI Associates Dae-Han Song and Christine Ahn On Mass Protests Force South Korean President to Revoke Shocking Martial Law Declaration After 6 Hours
December 4, 2024
KPI Associates Dae-Han Song and Christine Ahn speak with Democracy Now. “We would never imagine — some of us, the younger ones — that we would have martial law called during our lifetimes,” says Dae-Han Song from Seoul. He describes how “a lot of ordinary people came out” to oppose the power grab. Christine Ahn, recently banned from entering South Korea by Yoon’s government, says the “living memory” of life under dictatorship, which lasted into the 1980s, clearly inspired many ordinary citizens to fight back. “They will not tolerate that,” says Ahn. “It’s an extraordinary example of what Americans must learn from South Korea.”
December 4, 2024
KPI Board Chair speaks with 94.1 KPFA.
K.J. Noh, scholar and peace activist On South Korea's President Goes Full Military Dectator
December 3, 2024
K.J. Noh speaks with Garland Nixon on the Korean Coup and the global geopolitical picture. Garland asks about the influence of Japan on Korea and Taiwan, which they discuss in detail.
KPI Board Member Simone Chun On South Koreans Opposed to Sending Arms to Ukraine
December 1, 2024
KPI Board Member Simone Chun speaks with RT Television.
Corrections: Dr. Simone Chun is an Executive Director of the Korea Policy Institute Board, not a KPI Associate; per Dr. Chun the low interest loan to Ukraine from the Republic of Korea is two billion USD, not two hundred billion USD.
KPI Associate Dae-Han Song On US Militarization in East Asia
September 12, 2024
KPI Associate Dae-Han Song, a writer and campaigner from the International Strategy Center in South Korea, joins Fiona Edwards and Ileana Chan for Episode 5 of the Global Majority For Peace podcast. In this episode they explore the disturbing impact of US militarization in East Asia.
KPI Associate Henry Em On the Yŏsu-Sunch’ŏn Rebellion
August 10, 2024
In South Korea, the Korean War is often referred to as yugio (6.25). This designation implies that the character and meaning of the war can be grasped by “June 25, 1950,” the date when the Korean People’s Army (North Korean Army) invaded South Korea. But how did Japan’s defeat in the Asia-Pacific War, in 1945, result in the creation of two Koreas three years later? To what extent did the United States Army Military Government in Korea (1945-1948) shape the creation of South Korea in 1948? What does the uprising on Cheju Island in 1948 and the subsequent Yŏsu-Sunch’ŏn rebellion tell us about the creation of South Korea, and the origins and conduct of the Korean War, a war that remains un-ended?
KPI Associate Bruce Cumings On North Korea: US, Western aggression, China, Russia, South Korea
August 3, 2024
KPI Associate Bruce Cumings speaks with India and Global Left.
KPI Associate Tim Shorrock On North Korea's Reset on its Relations with South Korea
January 18, 2024
KPI Associate Tim Shorrock speaks with Scott Horton of KPFK AntiWar Radio about North Korea resetting its Relations with South Korea.
KPI Board Member Ji-Yeon Yuh On North Korea's policy change towards South Korea
January 17, 2024
KPI Board Member Ji-Yeon Yuh speaks with Arian Finighan of Al Jazeera about North Korea's dramatic shift in policy, tearing up its goal of unification with the South - a policy in place for decades. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un also said his country does not want war - but won't avoid one either. So what's behind his surprise move?
2023
KPI Board Member Gregory Elich On North Korean-Russian Talks Aimed at Expanding Cooperation
September 16, 2023
KPI Board Member Gregory Elich speaks with Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman to discuss the recent visit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, why the western media’s characterization of the meeting as focused on shipping artillery shells is misleading and what kinds of cooperation may have been agreed to, and how this partnership may help to alleviate the impact of sanctions on North Korea.
KPI Board Member Simone Chun On U.S. Imperial Policy in Korea
July 16, 2023 | The Institute for the Critical Study of Society
Can there be peace in Korea when the US is at a virtual war with China? When South Korea’s military is not only controlled by the US but also subordinated into a trilateral US-Japan-South Korea military alliance against China? When the United States, under its new Cold War against China, not only imposes sanctions against the North but hobbles the economy of the South by raising the cost of its crucial trade relations with China? Dr. Simone Chun discusses how South Korea’s far-right president Yoon has systematically capitulated to Washington’s anti-China agenda against the wishes of the majority of South Koreans, and at great cost and risk to the nation.
Remembering Hyun Lee: A Warrior for Justice in NYC’s AAPI and LGBTQ Communities and the Korea Peace Movement
June 28, 20223
This Pride Month episode is a special tribute to a former Asia Pacific Forum (APF) collective member and dear friend Hyun Lee, who passed away last year in 2022. Hyun was an APF member for several years from 2010, mainly covering stories on the people’s struggles in South and North Korea and against US imperialism and militarism especially in East Asia.
Hyun (also known as Lee Hyun Jung) was a long-time, beloved member of many organizations and communities locally in NYC, Philly and also nationally and internationally. She was widely known and admired as a brilliant, visionary, and powerful organizer in the movement for peace, justice and liberation on the Korean peninsula. In remembrance of Hyun’s inspiring and tireless work as a movement leader, a highly trusted friend, comrade, and mentor, we’ll be sharing three of her past APF shows. In addition to shows focused on North Korea and also on anti-Asian violence, two areas where she dedicated most of her organizing work, we will be highlighting her contribution and legacy as a queer woman to the LGBTQ Korean disaporic community. -- Mijounga Chang
KPI Board Member Gregory Elich On the anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War
June 28, 20223
KPI Board Member Gregory Elich speaks with Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman to discuss the anniversary of the beginning of the Korean war and how the US divided the peninsula, how the war has had lasting effects on both sides of the Korean Peninsula and led to intense repression of progressive political elements in the south, and why the Korean Peninsula is so important to US imperialism.
KPI Board Member Simone Chun On US-Japan-South Korea Alliance Threatens Peace in Asia
May 8, 2023 | New England Korea Peace Campaign and Massachusetts Peace Action
Dr. Simone Chun discusses how South Korea’s far-right president Yoon has systematically capitulated to Washington’s anti-China agenda against the wishes of the majority of South Koreans, and at great cost and risk to the nation. She examines how the recently-minted Washington Declaration flaunts South Korean national interest and public opinion by forcing the nation into the front lines of Washington's aggressive militaristic push into East Asia, increasing the threat of global war and thereby making this a matter not only for Koreans, but also for the American public.
Click here for accompanying PPT
KPI Board Member Gregory Elich On US Military Exercises Ramp Up Tensions in the Asia-Pacific
March 14, 20223
KPI Board Member Gregory Elich speaks with Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman to discuss ongoing military drills between the US and South Korea, which are testing the potential bombing and invasion of North Korea, how this fits into the recent slate of military exercises in the region, and how that reveals the absurdity of calling these drills “defensive,” how these drills fit into US preparations for war with China, and how North Korea is being framed as an aggressor by the US press despite the aggression from the US.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong and KPI Associate Gregory Elich
On Manifestations of Unending War: Korea and Yoon's Project to Reshape South Korea
International Committee of the Professional Staff Congress
February 6, 2023
2022
KPI Associate Tim Shorrock On Former Prime Minister of Japan Assasinated
July 8, 20223
KPI Associate Tim Shorrock discusses the multiple implications of the bold assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Flashpoints, 94.1 KPFA.
KPI Associate Simone Chun A Geopolitical Perspective of the Biden-Yoon Summit
May 23, 2022 | JNC TV
The May 21st summit between Joe Biden and South Korea’s hawkish new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, took place against the backdrop of escalating tensions in Northeast Asia. The meeting exemplified the extent to which Washington implements a binding strategy at South Korea's expense. Since the US cannot impose a top-down global security architecture, it relies on a network of weaker ally states to maintain its hegemonic power. The “ally” states serve as force multipliers for the US, and are expected to “bear most of the human and economic cost” of the strategic posture mandated by Washington's geopolitical priorities. The Biden-Yoon summit effectively reaffirmed South Korea's commitment to continue subordinating its sovereignty as well as its national and economic security to Washington’s interests.
KPI Associate Simone Chun On the Impact of South Korea elections on Korea peace efforts
April 11, 2022 | Korea Peace Now!
Dr. Simone Chun, serving on the Steering Committee of the Alliance of Scholars Concerned About Korea and a member of the Korea Policy Institute and the Korea Peace Network, met with Korea Peace Now! to discuss the impact of the recent elections in South Korea on work for peace on the Korean peninsula.
Click here for accompanying PPT
KPI Associate Simone Chun On Prospects for Peace in 2022
January 26, 2022 | Massachusetts Peace Action
Peace on the Korean Peninsula has long been a cherished wish of the Korean people for seven decades after the Korean armistice agreement. Since the breakdown of the Hanoi summit in February 2019, peace talks between the U.S. and North Korea remain at a stalemate. In March 2022, South Korea will hold a presidential election. Will the door of peace on the Korean Peninsula be reopened? Hear the insights of two experts on the prospects for peace on the Korean Peninsula in 2022.
Click here for accompanying PPT
KPI Associate Simone Chun On Prospects for Peace in 2022
January 26, 2022 | Massachusetts Peace Action
Peace on the Korean Peninsula has long been a cherished wish of the Korean people for seven decades after the Korean armistice agreement. Since the breakdown of the Hanoi summit in February 2019, peace talks between the U.S. and North Korea remain at a stalemate. In March 2022, South Korea will hold a presidential election. Will the door of peace on the Korean Peninsula be reopened? Hear the insights of two experts on the prospects for peace on the Korean Peninsula in 2022.
Click here for accompanying PPT
2021
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On The Military Industrial Academic Complex Perpetuates Korean War
August 5, 2021
KPI Board Member Christine Hong alongside Monica Kim, William Appleman Williams Chair in U.S. International and Diplomatic History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spoke with Bob Schlehuber of Political Misfits on Radio Sputnik about the American Studies Association's August 2, 2021 public endorsement of a resolution calling for an end to the Korean War.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On Biden & China – The First 100 Days.
April 14, 2021
KPI Board Member Christine Hong alongside Joseph Gerson, President, Campaign for Peace, Disarmament & Common Security, and Jake Werner, Boston University, Global Development Policy Center and Co-Founder Critical China Scholars, will assess President Biden’s first 100 days in office, which have been marked by escalating military, economic and diplomatic tensions with China and what this has meant for Asian-Americans.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On Targeting North Korea in an Era of Black Lives Matter
March 25, 2021
KPI Board Member Christine Hong spoke with Brandeis University's Asian American and Pacific Island Studies Program and African and African American Studies Program on the linkages between US police power at home and the legacies of US wars waged abroad.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On The Latest String of Anti-Asian American Crimes
March 20, 2021
KPI Board Member Christine Hong spoke with Flashpoints, KPFA on the upsurge in violence against the Asian American community in light of the recent murders in Atlanta.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On North Korea Declining All Meetings With US Until “Hostile Policies” Cease
March 19, 2021
KPI Board Member Christine Hong was interviewed by Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman for By Any Means Necessary and discussed the North Korean government’s announcement that it’s uninterested in restarting nuclear talks until the US abandons its “hostile policies” against the country, the political and cultural consequences of the division of Korea, and the links between imperialism, racial fetishization, and the massacre of Asian women near Atlanta this week..
Presented by the UCSC Center for Racial Justice with co-sponsorship from KPI
Mistruth and Consequences: Feminist Scholars on "Comfort Women" Denialism and Grassroots Movements for Justice
March 10, 2021, 4 PM PST
In the three decades since Kim Hak-sun of South Korea first publicly identified herself as a former “comfort woman” of the Japanese Imperial Army, a global movement for long overdue justice has emerged, based on substantial survivor testimony and extant historical documents, of the existence of a regionally far-reaching imperial system of military sexual slavery. This discussion focuses on the recent firestorm around Harvard legal professor J. Mark Ramseyer’s denialist “research” as well as the remarkable transnational grassroots activism, including feminist scholarly and pedagogical initiatives, for reparative justice.
2020
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On “Gulag” North Korea?: Black Antifascist Critique of U.S. “Police Action” in Korea
November 19, 2020, 4 PM PDT
In the post-9/11 era, no image has gone further in cementing North Korea’s perceived illegitimacy than the gulag (gwalliso). Yet the moorings of North Korea’s image as an unparalleled, post-Cold War police state require critical contextualization against the early Cold War U.S. “police action” that placed North Korea in the U.S. war machine’s crosshairs. This talk reaches back to the mid-twentieth century when the United States emerged as a global police power in order to excavate an antifascist analytic. By delving into the archives of the Civil Rights Congress, a black antifascist organization that presented an antilynching petition to the UN in 1951, I examine linkages between the “policeman’s bullet” in the United States and the U.S. “police action” in Korea.
KPI Associates Hyun Lee and Hye-Jung Park and Minju Bae On Films, War And Peace
July 29, 2020
On July 28th, 2020, Third World Newsreel, in collaboration with Nodutdol for Korean Community Development and the Korea Policy Institute held a panel that discussed a series of documentaries that streamed for the week in commemoration of the July 27th armistice signing – and the 70 years of Unended Korean War. They also talked about the efforts being made now by numerous US based groups to finally achieve a peace treaty.
KPI Associate Gregory Elich On US-North Korea Negotiations
July 8, 2020
Gregory Elich, author and columnist, was interviewed on the state of US-North Korea negotiations by Loud and Clear on July 8, 2020. The program is entitled: Is There Any Hope for Revival of US-North Korea Negotiations?
KPI Associate Gregory Elich On Inter-Korean Strains
June 29, 2020
Author and columnist Gregory Elich was interviewed by Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman for By Any Means Necessary on what is behind the recent strain in inter-Korean relations, and how it ties in with U.S. North Korea policy.
KPI Associate Bruce Cumings On Unknown War Webinar
June 25, 2020
On June 25, 2020, the 70th anniversary of what is officially known as the start of the Korean War, preeminent Korea historian Bruce Cumings discussed the neglected history of the unresolved war and how it continues to haunt the present.This webinar was organized by Korea Peace Network, Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network, Peace Treaty Now, and Re’Generation Movement.
KPI Associate Tim Shorrock On South Korean Success With COVID
May 14, 2020
KPI Associate Tim Shorrock, writer for The Nation, spoke with Michael Brooks on the Majority Report with Sam Seder to discuss how South Korea successfully combatted the coronavirus, kept its economy functioning, and kept its people safe.
KPI Associate Christine Ahn On South Korea And The Pandemic
April 29, 2020
KPI Associate Christine Ahn talks with Free Speech TV Host Sonali Kolhatkar on RisingUp with Sonali about what COVID-19 lessons South Korea could teach us. Ahn has also written an article in Common Dreams about South Korea needing to take similar leadership in its North Korea diplomacy.
KPI Associate Simone Chun On The South Korea Elections
April 21, 2020
KPI Associate Simone Chun spoke with Shingetsu News’s Speakeasy on South Korea’s Democratic party landslide in the recent elections.
KPI Associate Christine Ahn On Coronavirus And Peace In Korea
April 10, 2020
Christine Ahn, KPI Associate and the international coordinator of Women Cross DMZ, a global movement of women mobilizing for peace on the Korean Peninsula spoke with Scott Horton on his podcast show about U.S. relations with North Korea in light of the global coronavirus outbreak.
KPI Associate Tim Shorrock On Low Intensity War In Northeast Asia
January 29, 2020
Tim Shorrock, a KPI Associate, spoke with Around the Empire about the recent massive increase in South Korean and US military forces and low intensity war being waged against North Korea.
2019
KPI Associate Christine Ahn On US Sanctions On North Korea
November 15, 2019
Christine Ahn, a KPI Associate, and Joy Yoon and Henri Féron talk with Democracy Now about how international sanctions on North Korea are harming women and preventing needed humanitarian aid.
KPI Associate Hyun Lee On U.S. President Trump’s Walk Into North Korea
July 1, 2019
Hyun Lee, a KPI Associate, talks with Rising Up about U.S. President Trump’s walk into North Korea and possibilities for peace.
KPI Associate Hyun Lee on the Hanoi Summit
March 2, 2019
Hyun Lee, a KPI Associate and member of the Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea and writer for Zoominkorea.org, spoke with Loud and Clear about the Korean response to the second North Korea – US Summit in Hanoi.
2018
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On Human Rights In North Korea
November 7, 2018
KPI Board member Christine Hong speaks on Loud & Clear, to counter allegations made in a Human Rights Watch report that featured North Korean defectors alleging sexual abuse in North Korea. Dr. Christine Hong rebutted these allegations and discussed how South Korean and other intelligence agencies use defectors to further a narrative aimed at disrupting steps toward peace and reunification.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On The North-South Pyongyang Summit & Agreement
October 21, 2018
Dr. Christine Hong, associate professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UC Santa Cruz and a member of the Korea Policy Institute spoke with Brian Becker and John Kiriakou of Loud & Clear about the September meeting of the leaders of North and South Korea in Pyongyang and the agreement that was announced. North Korea said it would close a key missile test facility in the presence of international observers if the US took corresponding action, and the two leaders suggested a possible fourth summit in Seoul in the coming months.
KPI Board Member Martin Hart-Landsberg On The Trump – Kim Jong Un Summit
June 20, 2018
KPI Board member Martin Hart-Landsberg talked on KBOO radio with the Old Mole’s Laurie Mercier about the meaning of the recent Trump-Kim Jong Un summit: How Both Liberals and the Right Go Wrong About Korea.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On Trump-Kim Summit And How The U.S. Has Sabotaged Peace In The Past
June 19, 2018
KPI Board member Christine Hong talked on The Intercept with Jeremy Scahill about the Trump-Kim Summit and How the U.S. Has Sabotaged Peace in the Past: Bipartisan War Party Panics as Kim Meets Trump.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On Jeopardized US-North Korea Summit
May 17, 2018
KPI Board member Christine Hong talked on Democracy Now! about the jeopardized US-DPRK summit:
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Planned U.S.-North Korea Talks in Jeopardy as Trump Adviser Bolton Pushes for Regime Change
See the program or read the transcript
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Trump Pursues Denuclearization in North Korea & Nobel Peace Prize, While Ramping Up US Weapons Sales
See the program or read the transcript
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On War Or Peace In Korea
April 22, 2018
A Public Forum with KPI Board member Christine Hong, Michael Klare, and Andrew Lichterman was held on April 6, 2018 in Berkeley, CA.
KPI Associates Chun And Shorrock On The North-South Breakthrough
March 7, 2018
KPI Associates Simone Chun and Tim Shorrock spoke to Brian Becker and John Kiriakou about the recent breakthrough talks between North and South Korea on Loud and Clear on Sputnik Radio: ‘Possibility Of A Great Breakthrough’: Korean Peace Talks Depend On US Approach
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On The Endless Korean War
March 3, 2018
Interview with KPI Board member Christine Hong on the Endless Korean War, US Involvement,Korea reunification, nuclear war and post-Korean Olympics with hosts John Good Iron and Mary Massey.
2017
KPI Associate Bruce Cumings On The Sources Of The North Korean Conflict
November 20, 2017
Report on University of Chicago professor Bruce Cuming’s lecture on “The Sources of North Korean Conflict” at Boston College on November 15th.
KPI Associate Bruce Cumings On South Koreans Protesting Trump
November 10, 2017
KPI Associate Professor Bruce Cumings spoke on Democracy Now! on Trump’s visit to South Korea and the protests that ensued.
KPI Fellow Simone Chun On Trump’s North Position During Asia Tour
November 8, 2017
KPI Fellow Simone Chun spoke with Sputnik International on November 8th on the apparent change in tone that Trump took regarding North Korea on his recent Asia Tour.
KPI Fellow Hyun Lee On Current Korea Situation
November 8, 2017
“By Any Means Necessary” hosts Eugene Puryear and Sean Blackmon are joined by Hyun Lee of the Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea, a writer for ZoominKorea.org and a KPI Associate to talk about the efforts to push back-channel negotiations between North Korea and the United States, the reasons behind why negotiations continue to fail, the efforts of DPRK to develop a intercontinental ballistic missile, who Donald Trump will align himself with in South East Asia, the role of war games in exacerbating conflict in the region and the potential for North and South Korean reconciliation.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On No Preventative War
September 20, 2017
KPI Board Member spoke with Sputnik on the dangerous rhetoric from US: Washington's "Game of Chicken" with North Korea Could Have Catastrophic Consequences.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong And Gregory Elich On New North Korean Crisis
August 14, 2017
KPI Board Member Christine Hong at the August 9th 2017 Livermore, California March for Nuclear Abolition and Global Survival at Livermore Lab. (at one hour mark)
On KPFA’s Upfront show, KPI Board member Christine Hong explains what is behind North Korea’s recent actions and missile tests – a hope for peace, actually. August 8, 2017
Hear the program [start at 33.40]
On Loud and Clear, KPI Advisor Gregory Elich talks about Trump’s threat against North Korea upon revelations of their potential capability of nuclearizing their ICBMs, and the possibility of devastating war. August 8, 2017
KPI Associate Christine Ahn On The Travel Ban
August 4, 2017
Christine Ahn, the coordinator of Women Cross DMZ, an organization of women mobilizing for peace in Korea, and Korea Policy Institute Associate in an op ed in the New York Times, "The North Korea travel ban will do more harm than good."
KPI Associate Christine Ahn On North Korea And US Tensions, Summer 2017
July 5, 2017
Christine Ahn, KPI Associate and Executive Director of Women Cross DMZ on Democracy Now!, “Will Trump seek talks with North Korea or Counter Missile Test with more US Military Aggression?”
KPI Associate Gregory Elich On North Korea And US Tensions, Summer 2017
July 10, 2017
Gregory Elich, KPI Associate on RT, “‘Patience Is Over’: U.S., North Korea Latest Exchange of Threats”
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On North Korea And US Tensions, Summer 2017
July 5-7, 2017
FlashPoints with Dennis Bernstein (KPFA), July 5, 2017, “U.S. Saber-Rattling off Coast of Koreas, after North Tests Its New ICBM” (18 minutes in)
Thom Hartmann Program, July 6, 2017, “What We’re Seeing Now is the Result of the Korean War Never Really Ending (w/guest Christine Hong)”
The Joe Show with Joe Teehan, July 6, 2017, “U.S. Foreign Policy Driving Hostility between United States and North Korea”
The Morning Show with Felipe Luciano (WBAI), July 7, 2017, “North Korea’s Nuclear Test in Historical Perspective” (82:45)
Positively Revolting (KBOO Community Radio), July 7, 2017, “Warmongering Against North Korea”
KPI Associate Hyun Lee On North Korea And US Tensions, Summer 2017
July 5-7, 2017
RT.Com, July 5, 2017: ‘N. Korea now has capacity to target heart of US Pacific Command’
Loud & Clear with Brian Becker, July 6, 2017: US Threatens War on North Korea: Who is the Real Provocateur?
Thom Hartmann Program, July 7. 2017: The Big Picture on the Korea situation
KPI Associate Tim Shorrock On North Korea And US Tensions, Summer 2017
July 6, 2017
Tim Shorrock on Free Speech TV, July 6, 2017, "Trump and Kim Jong-un face off under cloud of nuclear weapons”
Hear the program or read the transcript
KPI Board Member Martin Hart-Landsberg On US Provocation Of North Korea
May 24, 2017
Martin Hart-Landsberg, KPI Board member and Professor Emeritus of Economics at Lewis and Clark College, spoke on May 8th with Laurie Mercier of KBOO radio station on the Old Mole Variety Hour program about the situation in Korea, and the history and political economy of U.S.- Korea relations.
KPI Associate Hyun Lee On Prospects For Peace
May 9, 2017
Hyun Lee, a member of the US-Korea Solidarity Committee for Peace and Democracy and an associate at the Korea Policy Institute, spoke on Talk Nation Radio May 9th as South Koreans elected a new president. She spoke about the prospects for peace in Korea, in light of the elections.
KPI Associate Christine Ahn And Women Cross DMZ Call On Trump To Seek Peace
April 28, 2017
Christine Ahn and Women Cross DMZ sent a public letter to Mr. Trump and senators, which was cited in the New York Times, as they called for diplomacy.
April 26, 2017
Interview with Gregory Elich, on KPFK’s ‘This is Happening’ program on KPFK Radio, on the current crisis in the context of US-North Korean relations over the last two decades.
Christine Hong on KPFA’s Up Front Show on the US -North Korea crisis.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On Potential Korean Conflict
April 23, 2017
Prof. Christine Hong of UCSC, and KPI board member, spoke on the increasing possibility of conflict between the U.S. and North Korea – and the need to de-escalate those tensions on Building Bridges on WBAI and other stations, Korean Crisis: We have met the enemy of world peace and it is US
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On North Korea And War Tensions
April 18, 2017
Prof. Christine Hong of UCSC, and KPI board member, spoke on the increasing possibility of conflict between the U.S. and North Korea – and the need to de-escalate those tensions.
This is Happening (Soundcloud 4.17.17) Hear the program
Democracy Now on KPFA.org (starts at 15:48) Hear the program
Rev. Sounghey Kim Speaking Against The THAAD System
April 8, 2017
The Korea Policy Institute was a cosponsor of the recent U.S. national speaking tour against deployment of the U.S. Thaad (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system in South Korea. As part of the tour, Rev. Sounghey Kim, co-chair of the Seongju Struggle Committee to Stop THAAD Deployment spoke in Huntsville, Alabama on April 8, 2017. Huntsville is the site where parts of the THAAD system and many other weapons are built and was also therefore the site of the 2017 annual conference of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.
also:
Korean American activist Hyun Lee on the US/Korea geopolitical context for the THAAD issue.
KPI Associates Christine Ahn And Bruce Cumings On Impeachment & Missile Tests
March 14, 2017
KPI Associates Christine Ahn and Professor Bruce Cumings spoke with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! March 13th, 2017 about the impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye and then Prof Cumings spoke about the recent North Korean missile test.
Webinar: Challenging Missile Defense In The Age Of Trump
February 13, 2017
On February 13, 2017, the Task Force to Stop Thaad in Korea and Militarism in Asia and the Pacific (see StopThaad.org) presented a webinar on Missile Defense and how President Trump could act to start on the path to reducing military tensions in the Asia Pacific region.
Ray McGovern, a former CIA policy analyst who worked under 7 U.S. administrations, and is now a member of Veterans for Peace, spoke about previous periods of high tension between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union over missile defense.
Jae Jung Suh, Professor of Politics and International Affairs at the International Christian University in Japan discussed how the THAAD deployment was spurring an Asia arms race, as well as a global arms race, but that there were feasible alternatives.
2016
KPI Associate Bruce Cumings On Defusing Nuclear Tensions
December 10, 2016
KPI Advisor Bruce Cumings on Yonhap news: Direct Talks the Only way to Defuse Nuclear Tensions.
KPI Associates Hyun Lee And Wol-San Liem On The Fate Of Pres. Park Geun-Hye
December 1, 2016
KPI Fellows Hyun Lee and Wol-san Liem, along with KJ Noh spoke on Flashpoints, KPFA about the fate of South Korea’s President, Park Geun-Hye.
KPI Associate Hyun Lee Speaks About THAAD And U.S. Military Designs On Upfront
August 19, 2016
KPI Fellow Hyun Lee Speaks about THAAD missile defense, Korea, and U.S. military designs on the KPFA Upfront radio program.
KPI Associate Bruce Cumings On The North Korean Ruling Party Congress
May 14, 2016
Historian and Korea Policy Institute associate Bruce Cumings spoke on WBEZ’s Worldview about the significance of the recent North Korean Worker’s Party congress – its first since 1980: There’s Been A Lot of Activity in North Korea.
KPI Associate Simone Chun On Asia Pacific Forum: On Military Sexual Slavery Issue
April 12, 2016
Simone Chun of the Korea Policy Institute discusses how the still unresolved struggles of South Korea’s comfort women play into the Pacific rim’s politics today.
Looking In The Right Direction: Establishing A Framework For Analysing The Situation On The Korean Peninsula (And Much More Besides)
April 12, 2016
In this excerpt from a March 2016 KPI webinar, Tim Beal discusses the geopolitical factors leading to the current tensions in northeast Asia, in particularly in relation to North Korea’s recent testings of its nuclear weapons.
This is an excerpt from a March 2016 webinar featuring, among other speakers, Tim Beal, author of Crisis in Korea: America, China and the Risk of War (PlutoPress, 2011) and a retired professor at Victoria University in New Zealand, where he taught on Asia and international marketing for many years. His website is focused on Asian geopolitics.
KPI Associate Tim Shorrok On Democracy Now! On Republican Stances On North Korea
February 8, 2016
KPI Associate Tim Shorrock spoke with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! on the Republican debate comments regarding the recent North Korean satellite launch in the show entitled: Another Bush, Another Preemptive War? Jeb Supports U.S. Military Strikes Against North Korea.
KPI Fellow Hyun Lee On “Loud And Clear” – Re North Korea H Bomb Test
January 15, 2016
Listen to host Brian Becker with KPI associate Hyun Lee in the second segment of his program, who assesses the continuing implications of North Korea’s major announcement last week that they had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, “The US Military planned for a million deaths in the first days of the next Korean War”.
KPI Board Member Paul Liem On “Loud And Clear” – North Korea Announced H Bomb Test
January 8, 2016
Listen to host Brian Becker with guests Paul Liem of the Korea Policy Institute, Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists; and Daniel Jasper, advocacy coordinator for Asia at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC).
During this hour long program, the guests discuss core questions surrounding the test, why the DPRK exited from the NPT Treaty and resumed its nuclear weapons program, Obama’s Asia pivot, what North Korea really wants and whether the US can shift its policy toward North Korea.
2015
KPI Fellows Wolsan Liem And Hyun Lee On KPFA
December 21, 2015
KPFA (Berkeley) – “Forming a United Front in Korea” – December 21, 2015; Host – Marie Choi and Brian Edwards-Tiekert; Guests – Wolsan Liem (KPTU), Doraji Baek (daughter of Baek Namki), Hyun Lee (starts at 34:10)
KPI Associate Wolsan Liem On The Monitor, KPFT Houston
December 21, 2015
KPI Associate Wolsan Liem, Director of International Affairs for the Korean Federation of Public and Social Services and Transportation Workers’ Unions spoke to host Dennis Bernstein on the current crackdown in South Korea.
KPI Associate Tim Shorrock On The Monitor, KPFT Houston
December 14, 2015
Mark Bebawi, host of The Monitor, KPFT Houston, speaks to Tim Shorrock, journalist and trade unionist based in Washington, D.C., a long time writer on issues and events in Korea. Shorrock talks about the crackdown in South Korea by the Park Geun-hye government against labor, democratic rights – and the attempt to change and nationalize textbooks – and history.
KPI Associate Greg Elich, KCTU Intl Director Mikyung Ryu And Doraji Baek On KPFA
December 1, 2015
Crackdown On Citizen Protests In Korea. City of Berkeley vs The Homeless: Starting at the 21 minute mark – Gregory Elich, KCTU International Director Mikyung Ryu, and Doraji Baek, the daughter of Baek Nam-ki.
KPI Associate Christine Ahn Op Ed: Reviving Hope On The 70th Anniversary Of Korea’s Division
August 10, 2015
Christine Ahn, is the international coordinator of Women De-Militarize the Zone (WomenCrossDMZ.org), which crossed the DMZ and held peace symposiums in north and south Korea this May, 2015. She is also on the Korea Policy Institute’s Board of Advisors and was a co-founder of the organization. She recently posted this Op Ed on Truthout.org
KPI Advisor Bruce Cumings Interview: “Washington Has Always Preferred Tokyo Over Seoul”
May 18, 2015
University of Chicago Professor and KPI Associate Bruce Cumings recently conducted an interview via email with the Hankyoreh’s Washington correspondent, discussing the recent tensions in East Asia over historical issues, and the US’s apparent siding with Tokyo amid its failure to apologize for its imperial aggressions. Cumings’s scholarship is focused on East Asia, with particular attention to Korea.
2015 Jeju Film And Speaking Tour
May 12, 2015
In April 2015, the Korea Policy Institute helped to coordinate a speaking tour and film exhibition on the 8 year struggle in Jeju island to stop the building of a naval base.
Paco Michelson and HeeUn Silver Park, an American couple who have worked with the Gangjeong international peacekeepers team for two and half years, had returned to the U.S. and embarked on a national tour to talk about the struggles along with a new film, Gureombi, the Wind is Blowing.
Gangjeong Village is a tiny town on the idyllic island of Jeju off the southern coast of South Korea, where the South Korean Navy has been working to build a massive naval base, of a size that would accommodate U.S. carriers. Since 2007, Gangjeong villagers have been waging a nonviolent campaign against the construction of the naval base. Although 96 percent of the villagers voted against the base in a referendum, the South Korean government has arrested, fined and beaten nonviolent protestors for impeding the construction. “Jeju isn’t just any island,” stated actor/activist Robert Redford in 2012. “It has just been selected as one of the “Seven Wonders of Nature” for its breathtaking beauty, unique traditions and sacred groves. Of the world’s 66 UNESCO Global Geoparks, nine are on Jeju Island.”
Paco and Silver spoke in Maine, Boston, New York, Rutgers, Philadelphia DC, LA, Santa Cruz, the Bay Area, Seattle and Portland, where local community groups concerned about the Jeju Island struggle and the increasing militarization of the Asia-Pacific region presented events. The aim of the tour was to raise awareness but also to help fundraise for the enormous fines that have been charged to the villagers and peacekeepers for their peaceful protests.
View the video of the New York City Presentation. March 22, 2015 at the New School.
KPI Advisor Elaine Kim Condemns Abe’s Attempt To Rewrite Japan’s Role In Sexual Slavery
April 30, 2015
In an interview with CBS SF/Bay Area, noted author and filmmaker Elaine Kim, University of California, Berkeley Professor of Asian American Studies, called Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s attempt to force U.S. publisher McGraw-Hill to cut paragraphs from a textbook about the ‘comfort women’, the hundreds of thousands of women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II “wrong, but I also think it’s stupid and it’s going to fail.” Elaine Kim is on the KPI Advisory Board.
“The Interview” : A Racist Narrative About The People Of North Korea
April 30, 2015
In an interview with Fars News Agency, Prof. Hong discussed the US government’s policy towards North Korea and its intentions for sponsoring the production of the controversial movie The Interview.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong Speaks On Jeju And The Militarization Of Korea And Asia
January 22, 2015
KPI Board Member Christine Hong reports on the history of Je Ju island and the growing militarization of Korea and Japan. She also discusses the role of the United States in pushing militarization of Asia. This presentation was made in Santa Cruz, California at a forum on Fukushima and the militarization of Asia.
KPI Associate Simone Chun Speaks On The Threatened Imprisonment Of Two South Korean Reporters
January 6, 2015
KPI Associate Simone Chun spoke with Steve Zeltzer of WorkWeek Radio on the growing repression against South Korean investigative journalists Kim Ou-joon and Choo Chin-woo . They face imprisonment for exposing the connections between a double murder in a foundation connected to South Korean President Park. Professor Chun discusses this case and the growing militarization and attacks on the labor movement.
KPI Board Chair Paul Liem On Kim Jong Un’s Call Fora Summit Meeting
January 5, 2015
Paul Liem, KPI Board Chair spoke on Al-Jazeera English about DPRK leader Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s Day speech calling for a summit with South Korea.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On The U.S. & N. Korea, Cuba
January 3, 2015
KPI Board member Christine Hong spoke along with Netfa Freeman of the Institute for Policy Studies and host Tahera Shireen Rahman on the show Radio Islam on WCEV 1450 AM, Changing Relationships: The U.S. & N. Korea, Cuba.
2014
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On “The Interview” And Alleged North Korean Hacking
December 27, 2014
KPI Board Member Christine Hong spoke to Dennis Bernstein on the “Flashpoints” show on KPFA December 23rd, 2014.
KPI On North Korea Alleged Cyber-Attack And “The Interview”
December 23, 2014
Christine Hong and Tim Shorrock (KPI Advisory Board member) spoke with Democracy Now on December 22, 2014, “The Interview” Belittles North Korea, But is Film’s Backstory and U.S. Policy the Real Farce?
Watch the video
Christine Hong on RT Television, December 20, 2014: “Blaming Kim”
KPI Board Member Christine Hong Re Balloons Into North Korea
September 10, 2014
KPI Board Member Christine Hong was quoted in NKNews.org in the article: Are human rights activist launching balloons into North Korea making any difference?
KPI Board Member Christine Hong And The Seth Rogan Film “The Interview”
June 26, 2014
KPI Board member Christine Hong speaks on the CBC Radio show “The Current” about the new Seth Rogan film “The Interview”, about an assassination attempt on the leader of North Korea, and the D.P.R.K.’s response.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong And North Korea Human Rights
April 10, 2014
John R. Eperjesi’s article in Huffpost cites the Critical Asian Studies Journal thematic issue on North Korean Human Rights, edited by Christine Hong and Hazel Smith, with articles by many KPI associates: From Pork Chop Hill to the Front Line: Peace As a Korean Human Right
KPI Associate John Feffer On US Policy Towards North Korea
March 11, 2014
The Hankyoreh published an editorial by John Feffer of Foreign Policy In Focus criticizing the U.S. “strategic patience” policy towards North Korea.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong Quoted In NK News.Org
February 20, 2014
Christine Hong recently spoke to reporters regarding controversial North Korean human rights activist Suzanne Scholte on her plans to run for Congress in Virginia.
KPI Advisor Bruce Cumings On The Possibility Of War Between US And North Korea
February 12, 2014
Bruce Cumings, Professor at the University of Chicago, spoke at the University of Texas on US-North Korea relations. He was quoted in the Daily Texan.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On The “Camellia Has Fallen” Exhibit And The History Of Jeju Island
February 10, 2014
KPI Board member Christine Hong spoke with Bruce Robinson of KRCB Public Radio & Television on February 6, 2014 about the new exhibit at the Sonoma County Museum.
A series of events were held at the opening of the exhibit, “Camellia Has Fallen: Contemporary Korean Artists Reflect on the Jeju Uprising” which contains artwork focused on the themes of memory, revelation, healing and tribute. The exhibit examines the people’s uprising and resulting April 3, 1948 massacre in Jeju Island. This tragedy, where Jeju islanders resisted the division of Korea and were then attacked by South Korean troops during the U.S. occupation of Korea, left between 14,000 to 60,000 dead, and a legacy that resonates as the current South Korean government attempts to build a naval base on the island.
The University of San Francisco extension hosted a two-day symposium of related lectures, panel discussions and film screenings, and the exhibit, which includes media ranging from sculpture to video to paper, will be on view through May 4, 2014.
Sponsors for the exhibit include the Sonoma County Museum, the Seoul-based South Korean gallery Artspace C, the Arts Council of Korea, the Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and Liz and Mario Uribe.
Sonoma County Museum, 425 Seventh St. Price: $10.
2013
KPI Board Members Paul Liem And Christine Hong On The Berkeley City Resolution On Jeju Island
December 17, 2013
Flashpoints show, KPFA 94.1 California: KPI Board members Paul Liem and Christine Hong and KJ talk about the recent Berkeley City resolution against the building of a naval base on Jeju Island. For over 7 years, there has been a struggle against the South Korean navy’s attempt to build a base that will destroy the livelihood of the Jeju islanders, and the land and waters of this pristine island, known for its beauty and unique ecosystem.
KPI Board Member Christine Hong On The Trans Pacific Partnership And U.S./Korea Relations
October 6, 2013
Talks by Victor Menotti of the International Forum on Globalization on the TPP and its impact and the context of past struggles against “trade” pacts and KPI Board member Professor Christine Hong on the history of U.S./Korea relations.
Focus on the Pacific—Pacific Pivot and the Trans Pacific ‘Partnership’)
What are they and what shall we do about them?
KPI Executive Board Members Christine Ahn and Christine Hong interviewed on need to end the Korean War
May 10, 2013
KPI Executive Board Members Christine Ahn and Christine Hong on Pacifica Radio, Berkeley, CA.
KPI Executive Board Member Christine Hong on “Other Voices”
May 7, 2013
KPI Executive Board Member Christine Hong at the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Palo Alto, CA.
KPI Executive Board Member Christine Ahn on human rights in North Korea
April 18, 2013
KPI Executive Board Member Christine Ahn on Al Jazeera speaking on human rights in North Korea.
KPI Board Members on “Crisis in Korea – Twenty Years in the Making”
April 15, 2013
KPI Board Members on Asia Pacific Forum, WBAI, New York.
KPI Board Members on “Rethinking North Korean Human Rights”
April 15, 2013
KPI Board Members on Asia Pacific Forum, WBAI, New York.
KPI Executive Board Member Christine Ahn on military tensions with North Korea
April 8, 2013
KPI Board Member Christine Ahn on Counterpoint, WPKN, Bridgeport, CT.
KPI Executive Board Member Christine Ahn on the current military tensions
April 6, 2013
KPI Board Member Christine Ahn on BBC Radio Scotland (begins approx 1:10 into the program)
