Dr Hoare is a professor of Korean history at SOAS, Chair of the British Association of Korean Studies, and a former diplomat in the DPRK. He spoke about both his own experiences as chargé d'affaires in Pyongyang and his outlook on the future of North Korea. He spoke with great depth and expertise, analysing the history of the Korean peninsula as an explanation of its present and future states. His personal photographs, however, were undoubtedly the most emotive part of the talk, providing a unique view into North Korean hospitals and orphanages, amongst other things. He portrayed a troubled and backward, yet subtly dynamic state, with an important emphasis on the humanity of the average North Korean, in contrast to their presentation in the Western media.
Andrew Hayley JMO’B
