2nd Workshop on the Northern Region, Identity, and Culture

www.koreaconference.org

Peter Bol, Lee Jung Sook, Ko Seung Hee, Ann Choi, Sun Joo Kim, Edward Baker (front row, l-r); Mark Caprio, Chong Bum Kim, Vipan Chandra, Ross King, Kim Kuen-Tae, Moon Yumi (back row, l-r).

Resuming where we left off in June of 2004, the Second Workshop on the Northern Region commenced with an evening reception on February 17, 2005, and the conference took place from February 18-19 at Harvard University. At the second workshop, nine participants from the United States, Korea, Canada, and Japan gathered with diverse perspectives to discuss the historical, geographical, and cultural characteristics of the northern region of the Korean peninsula. The responses of the audience and the debates stimulated thereafter were a true testament to the genuine scholarly interest in the issues raised by the workshop.

Scholarship on the northern region of the Korean peninsula has historically been given short shrift, and moreover, there have been hindrances to the disbursement of knowledge. Sources have been scarce, and scholars have often been limited by distance, both from each other and from Korea. This can be attributed to several factors, including the fact that the topics that we explore in our workshop had previously failed to generate significant interest among scholars. However, we must acknowledge and move beyond the unbalanced historiographical accounts in which the history of region has been melded into the peninsula’s history and culture as if the northern region bore no differences from the south.

In that regard, the contribution of the Northern Region workshop was significant and far-reaching. The workshop provided a forum for generating more accurate and complete knowledge of the northern region and for promoting the crossfertilization of disciplines ranging from language, literature, and history. Given the interconnectedness of these factors, it was imperative to have a range of issues and scholars of varying disciplines together present a more thorough picture of Korean history from the Choson Dynasty and through the colonial period. It was evident as well that the history of the Japanese Empire and Korean history and culture are inextricably linked entities. We were able to come to an understanding about how the northern region developed particular geographic circumstances and regional characteristics at the turn of the century. Although coverage of the northern region had always been incorporated into the history of the Choson dynasty, the workshop provided an opportunity to deepen our knowledge of the roots of the circumstances of the North that lie in Choson governmental policies and societal conditions.

These positive results will hopefully be a prelude to an improvement of scholarship on North Korea. They carry the potential for both furthering the field of North Korean studies and building it strongly enough so that it can stand on its own comparatively against other scholarship on Asia. The successful completion of this project could not have been possible without the continued support of the Harvard University Korea Institute and Asia Center, and the second workshop owes much thanks to the Korea Research Foundation as well. We are thankful for the wonderful relationship we have built with these organizations.