The October 2018 session of the “Seoul Colloquium in Korean Studies,” organized jointly by the Seoul Center of the EFEO, RAS Korea and Asiatic Research Institue will be held on Thursday October 25 in the Grand Conference Room (Room number 310), of the Asiatic Research Institute, Korea University, beginning at 6:00 pm. October Presentation Russian Public Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula: Focusing on the Early Soviet Diplomacy Activities in Colonial Koreaby Janna Ballod The present study proposes to explore the Russian public diplomacy on the Korean peninsula as an international actor’s attempt to influence the international environment through engagement with a foreign public. The trajectory of the Russian public diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula has been analyzed in relation to its historical development featuring three historical stages: 1) public diplomacy in colonial Korea 2) public diplomacy in the DPRK during the Cold War 3) Post-Cold War public diplomacy in the DPRK and in the Republic of Korea.In the present talk I will focus on "mapping" Soviet public diplomacy in colonial Korea by looking at the extent to which the public diplomacy activities of the first socialist state were defined by the international context and also by the specific conditions of the targeted country – colonial Korea. The Soviet public diplomacy in colonial Korea reflected the multifaceted foreign policy of the USSR, which aimed at support of the communist movement on the one hand, and at the promotion of peaceful coexistence with countries of different political systems, on the other. The Soviet government conducted various public diplomacy activities such as distribution of Soviet literature, organization of exhibitions, maintaining contact with pro-Soviet organizations, and assistance to victims of 1925 flooding with the purpose to form a positive image of the first socialist state.However from 1905 to 1945 Korean foreign affairs had been administrated by Japan and direct evidence of both official and unofficial contacts between Koreans and foreigners during that period are not easily obtained. The documents retained in the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF) provide new evidence of direct contacts between the first socialist state and Korean people, entrepreneurs and organizations in the 1920s - 1930s. The research suggests that the first Soviet Non-Government organizations such as VOKS (the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations Abroad), Russian Red Cross Society and Krestintern Peasant International were engaged in public diplomatic activities on the territory of colonial Korea. Janna Ballod, Ph.D., 1991-1996 Moscow State Linguistic University (B.A.)1998-2000 Yonsei University (M.A., political science)2001-2004 Embassy of RF in the ROK 2008-2013 Hanyang University, GSIS (Korean studies), Ph.D.2008-present Seokyeong University, assistant professor From Korea University station (line 6), take exit 1, go to the right, up the sloping walkway to the campus. Walk past the building with the Ilmin Museum (the first building you'll see almost in front of you, a little to the left), and continue walking straight up the hill until you reach the Asiatic Research Institute on the right. After 6 pm the front door of the Institute will be locked, so please try to arrive a little earlier. If the door is locked, phone to the EFEO Seoul Center (02-921-4526) so that we can let you into the building.

 corée du nord   séoul colloquium in korean studies