고난과 웃음의 나라: 문화인류학자의 북한 이야기 (The Land of Ordeal and Laughter: A Cultural Anthropologist's Stories of North Korea), 정병호 Byung-Ho Chung, 창비, 2020
If you took a course on North Korea, you might have heard about or read the book North Korea: Beyond Charismatic Politics (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012) co-authored by Heonik Kwon and Byung-Ho Chung. Prof. Chung visited North Korea many times as he started research on the famines around the North Korea-China border. He founded 'Hana-dool' School for young North Korean refugees and led movements for collective childcare and community education for refugees and migrants families in South Korea.
This book is an excellent academic manuscript that conveys the author's accounts of North Korea from his life-long research and fieldwork. But what makes this book more special is the author's standpoint on which he sees North Koreans as 'us' instead of objectifying 'them' as research subjects. In other words, in addition to the author's criticism of the North Korean regime, what parallels his criticism is his efforts to guide the readers to seek mutual understanding so the people of North and South Korea could overcome the division someday. <100>
The link of the author's book talk (1.5 hours talk + 1 hour Q&A)
English edition is forthcoming.