The First Regular Meeting of 2018
Sunday, February 18, 2018, 5:30-8:00 p.m.
Woo Lae Oak, Tysons Corner
8240 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22182
703-827-7300

Featured Speaker: Sergei O. Kurbanov, Professor and Director of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Study of Korea, St. Petersburg University; Visiting Scholar, George Washington University Institute for Korean Studies, will speak on “How to communicate with North Koreans: My personal experience and recommendations”       

Prof. Kurbanov will discuss the question of finding the appropriate North Koreans who are ready (allowed) to talk with outsiders and who have ways of reaching out to the DPRK leadership. Prof. Kurbanov will propose some methods of using the “North-Korean language” based on his knowledge of North Korean traditions and ideology and will provide some examples based on his personal experience.

Sergei O. Kurbanov is a professor and the chair of the newly established Department of Korean Studies at St. Petersburg University. In 1997 he developed and opened the “Korean History Major” BA Program. His spheres of interest are wide, including the general history of Korea (with books published in 2002 and 2009), Korean Confucianism (book in 2007), and the everyday lives of North and South Koreans in 1987 – 2000s (books in 2013 and 2017). He also wrote and compiled a biography (published in 2016) of Kim Gu, the head of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in China, as well as a book on the theory of historical science (book in 2016). Currently, Prof. Kurbanov is writing a book on the history of North Korea in 2000 – 2018.