The Opportunity of a Lifetime
Last week, some of my fellow Global Scholars and I went to an event hosted by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council on North Korea and North Korean relations. The guest speaker, Dr. David Kang, is a much published professor at the University of Southern California where he is the director of the Korean Studies Institute. Originally, Dr. Victor Cha was supposed to join him, but he unfortunately couldn't make it that night.
Before the actual presentation, Dr. Kang did a one on one session with just the students, where he incidentally covered many of the topics he was planning on talking about in his presentation. Personally, I found the one on one talk with Dr. Kang to be much more interesting and informative than the presentation, mostly because I already heard the information and because I think he ran out of steam a little bit talking about the same material for two hours straight.
Interestingly, I knew more about North Korea than I thought I did. Dr. Kang talked a lot about relations with North Korea and the misconceptions about life in North Korea. (It turns out life there is much better than most people surmise). Dr. Kang explained how most people either see North Koreans as either brainwashed or robots, but in fact they are humans, just like us (shouldn't be any surprises there).
My favorite part about Dr. Kang's presentation was his optimism about the future of North Korea. Apparently, Kim Jong Un is doing a lot to increase relations with South Korea and the United States. Dr. Kang believes that, with Un reaching out more, Moon (the President of South Korea, who has been waiting for an opportunity like this for decades), and a US president that is willing to take more risks than any president in recent history, we have the opportunity of a lifetime to change relations with North Korea permanently.
I found Dr. Kang's presentation and expertise to be absolutely wonderful, and I am shocked to say I'm actually excited to see what the coming years bring for North Korea and US relations.
Before the actual presentation, Dr. Kang did a one on one session with just the students, where he incidentally covered many of the topics he was planning on talking about in his presentation. Personally, I found the one on one talk with Dr. Kang to be much more interesting and informative than the presentation, mostly because I already heard the information and because I think he ran out of steam a little bit talking about the same material for two hours straight.
Interestingly, I knew more about North Korea than I thought I did. Dr. Kang talked a lot about relations with North Korea and the misconceptions about life in North Korea. (It turns out life there is much better than most people surmise). Dr. Kang explained how most people either see North Koreans as either brainwashed or robots, but in fact they are humans, just like us (shouldn't be any surprises there).
My favorite part about Dr. Kang's presentation was his optimism about the future of North Korea. Apparently, Kim Jong Un is doing a lot to increase relations with South Korea and the United States. Dr. Kang believes that, with Un reaching out more, Moon (the President of South Korea, who has been waiting for an opportunity like this for decades), and a US president that is willing to take more risks than any president in recent history, we have the opportunity of a lifetime to change relations with North Korea permanently.
I found Dr. Kang's presentation and expertise to be absolutely wonderful, and I am shocked to say I'm actually excited to see what the coming years bring for North Korea and US relations.
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