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Understanding North Korea

November 19, 2021
Wisconsin Idea Spotlight

On Wednesday, Nov. 17, UW historian David Fields MA’09, PhD’17, associate director of the Center for East Asian Studies and leading expert in U.S.-Korean relations, guided UW alumni and friends through a historical exploration of North Korean society in order to better understand news about the country today. Fields broke down the ideology and underdevelopment of North Korea that has allowed it to outlast similar regimes that have fallen in other countries, dispelled misunderstandings about North Korea, and discussed its possible futures. “We simply don’t have a word for what North Korea is,” Fields concluded. “In many ways, North Korea’s political system and ideology is so unique that we don’t even know how to categorize it.” The presentation was followed by a Q & A session moderated by Wisconsin Alumni Association’s director of media and public relations, Tod Pritchard.

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