The ANU Korea Update is the University’s flagship annual conference on Korea. This year’s Korea Update is introducing a hybrid format. The ANU Korea Institute is bringing together academics from all over the world to talk about all things Korea, whilst also presenting the event online. We are lucky enough to have esteemed economist Ruediger Frank deliver the opening keynote, and renowned cultural geographer Ju Hui Judy Han deliver the closing keynote.
Spread across two days, the 2022 Korea Update is a public event bringing together key representatives from the academic and policymaking communities to discuss current socio-cultural, political, diplomatic, gender and security issues related to the Korean peninsula.
Recordings of all the sessions are available on this CAP Vimeo showcase page.
Program
Monday 21 November
4pm-4.30pm Light refreshments
4.30pm WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
- Ambassador His Excellency Jeong-sik Kang, Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Australia
- Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt, ANU
- Moderators: Associate Professor Ruth Barraclough and Dr Eunseon Kim, ANU
5pm OPENING KEYNOTE: North Korea after Ukraine (Video)
- Professor Ruediger Frank, Vienna University
- Moderator: Associate Professor Roald Maliangkaij, ANU
Tuesday 22 November
9am PANEL ONE: Korea's relations with the world (Video)
- Korea-Australia relationship: Focusing on people to people links - Professor Kyounghee Moon, Changwon National University
- The Korea-Japan relationship - Dr Lauren Richardson, ANU
- Russia and the Two Koreas - Dr Leonid Petrov, ANU
- Moderator: Dr Peter Lee, University of Melbourne
10.40am - 11am Morning tea break
11am PANEL TWO: Global North Korea (Video)
- 'Global' North Korea, gender politics, and family as a metaphor - Dr Eun Ah Cho, University of Sydney
- An unusual isolation: North Korea's international economic ties - Professor Justin Hastings, University of Sydney
- Moderator: Professor Kyung Moon Hwang, ANU
12pm-1pm PANEL THREE: Politics in South Korea (Video)
- Protesting Seoul: Mega-protest events and place-making in the global city - Associate Professor Jennifer Chun, UCLA
- Scenes from the Political Culture in South Korea - Professor Kyung Moon Hwang, ANU
- Moderator: Professor Kyounghee Moon, Changwon National University
1pm-2pm Lunch break
2pm PANEL FOUR: Economy (Video)
- Manna from Mars: The 'Miracle' of South Korea’s militarised capitalism - Assistant Professor Peter Kwon, University at Albany
- The next (green) miracle on the Han River: Understanding the rise and rise of Green Growth in South Korea’s democratic polity - Dr Sung Young Kim, Macquarie University
- Moderator: Ms Georgina Carnegie, Australia Korea Business Council
3pm PANEL FIVE: Culture (Video)
- From cybernetics to mass surveillance: North Korea's technological history and our digital future - Dr Benoit Berthelier, University of Sydney
- From Chosŏn (Joseon) to Gen Z: Gugak’s place in 21st Century Korea - Dr Hilary Finchum-Sung, Association for Asian Studies
- Moderator: Dr Eunseon Kim, ANU
4pm-4.30pm Afternoon refreshments
4.30pm CLOSING KEYNOTE: Queer throughlines: Activist lines and uneven geometries in South Korea and the diaspora (Video)
- Assistant Professor Ju Hui Judy Han, UCLA
- Moderator: Associate Professor Ruth Barraclough, ANU
How to Register for the 2022 Korea Update, using the Zoom Events platform (pdf)
Event Speakers

Professor Ruediger Frank
Ruediger Frank is Professor of East Asian Economy and Society at the University of Vienna, where he is also Director of the European Centre for North Korean Studies.

Assistant Professor Judy Han
Ju Hui Judy Han is a cultural geographer (PhD, UC Berkeley) and assistant professor in Gender Studies at UCLA. Her writings about queer feminist politics, religion, and protest appear in journals such as Journal of Korean Studies, Critical Asian Studies, and Journal of Asian Studies.