Royal Asiatic Society hosts talk on N.K.

The Royal Asiatic Society’s Korea Branch will host a talk on North Korean propaganda by Korea University assistant professor Tatiana Gabroussenko on June 11.

The talk will explore the presentation of “honorable veterans” ― usually military personnel who have died or become disabled in industrial accidents during military service.

The North’s propaganda equates such cases with combat-related heroism and demands similar sacrifices from others, according to Gabroussenko.

One form of reverence for the invalid “honorable veteran” of this is the practice of proposing to them and becoming their spouse-cum-nurse.

Tonight’s lecture will go into the details of how these “veterans” are romantically portrayed in North Korean literature, art and cinema and how it relates to the social situation and national identity of the DPRK.

Gabroussenko has written articles on North Korean culture, literature and propaganda and a book, “Soldiers on the Cultural Front: Developments in the Early History of North Korea Literature and Literary Policy.”

The talk runs from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Residents’ Lounge in Somerset Palace near Anguk Station. Admission is free for RASKB members and 7,000 won for nonmembers.

(paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)