N. KOREA PANEL DISCUSSION Today, noon Kinsey
Pavilion 1220B
Professors from various fields plan to meet to address the
political and cultural issues surrounding North Korea’s
nuclear weapons program. The event will include a movie screening
followed by a discussion by experts on current events in the
country.
The afternoon panel discussion will open with the documentary
“A State of Mind,” which concentrates on the cultural,
rather than the political, aspects of North Korea, said Michael
Ahn, a political science graduate student who chose the film.
Ahn said since the discussion will focus on North Korea’s
nuclear program, he wanted to present a documentary that would
offer a different view of the country.
“This movie shows how regular people live in North
Korea,” he said.
After the movie, four speakers will participate in a panel
discussion moderated by John Duncan, director of the UCLA Center
for Korean Studies and professor of Asian languages and
cultures.
Duncan said the speakers will present three different
perspectives on the situation ““ one from North Korea, one
from South Korea and one from China. Another professor will explain
how North Korea is seen and dealt with in Washington, D.C.
“I think this is important because nuclear proliferation
is extremely dangerous, especially when it is in the hands of rogue
rulers,” said Joseph Miskabi, a third-year history and
political science student. “I think it’s an important
discussion to attend.”
After months of declaring that it would establish a nuclear
weapons program, North Korea successfully carried out a nuclear
test on Oct. 9. In the following weeks, North Korea said it would
continue to pursue its nuclear weapons programs, but on Tuesday the
nation agreed to resume nuclear disarmament talks with the
international community.
“There has been this ongoing process of unproductive talks
to try to deal with the North Korean nuclear situation. The talks
stalled and the result was that in July, North Korea fired some
missiles and a couple of weeks ago apparently tested a nuclear
bomb,” Duncan said.
“We think it’s important to get together a group of
experts to shed light on what is happening now and what may happen
in the near future,” Duncan said.
Navid Pour-Ghasemi, a second-year German student, said he would
like to hear a more comprehensive discussion on the political
implications of the situation in North Korea during the panel part
of the event.
“It’s really easy to base your opinions on what you
see on cable news,” Pour-Ghasemi said. “But to see a
panel of professors discuss what’s going on provides a much
more in-depth perspective on the issue.”
Both the documentary screening and panel discussion are free and
open to the public.