The Korea Society

April 13, 2026 - Join us for a book talk with Jonathan Cheng, author of the new history book Korean Messiah, which explores "the rise of the Kim dynasty and its surprising ties to American Christianity." In the book, Cheng, who is The Wall Street Journal's current China bureau chief and former Korea bureau chief, documents the profusion and lasting impact of Christianity in North Korea's current capital of Pyongyang, which was once described as the "Jerusalem of the East." Based on letters, diaries, and archival materials, his book reveals how the Kim regime's personality cult "traces its roots back to the Christian fervor of post–Civil War America."

Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, joins the conversation as a discussant. She described the book as "provocative and fascinating… Jonathan Cheng shows how this country, more hostile to religion than any in the world, was built on a bedrock of Christianity by its founder Kim Il Sung, who discarded the evangelical faith of his family and harnessed its power to create a cult of personality that has endured into the third generation."

The discussion is moderated by policy director Jonathan Corrado, and jointly produced by the Policy and the Arts and Culture teams.

This program is made possible by the generous support of the Korea Foundation and our individual and corporate members.  
This program is co-hosted by The Center for Korean Research at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University.
For more information, please visit the link below:
https://koreasociety.org/policy-and-corporate-programs/2112-korean-messiah

Recorded April 2, 2026 - As part of our commitment to building the next generation of founders, The Korea Society is bringing Startup Scene to Yale Ventures – connecting one of the world's most dynamic consumer technology investors with Yale's entrepreneurial community. We are honored to welcome Eric Kim, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Goodwater Capital and Yale University alumnus, for a fireside conversation on building global consumer technology companies across borders.

Eric Kim will reflect on his journey to founding Goodwater Capital, a leading global venture firm with a portfolio of transformative consumer technology companies including Kakao, Coupang, Spotify, ByteDance, and Stitch Fix. Please join us as Eric shares insights on the rise of the global startup ecosystem, cross-border investment strategy, and how investors identify and scale the next generation of consumer platforms.

This conversation will be moderated by Josh Geballe, Senior Associate Provost for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Yale University and Managing Director of Yale Ventures.
This program is supported by Hanwha Life

Co-Hosted with Yale Ventures
For more information, please visit the link below:
https://www.koreasociety.org/corporate/2135-eric-kim

April 8, 2026 - Join us for a virtual tour of archival resources about Korea and U.S.-Korea relations available for virtual and U.S.-based researchers. This discussion highlights a diverse array of both longstanding and emerging collections, providing a wide survey of available historical resources. How can educators, researchers, historians, writers, and students best take advantage of this treasure trove of materials? What stories await and what impact can they have? What are some tips and tricks from librarians, center directors, and archivists?

Participating resource centers include: the new Van Fleet Digital Archive, The University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for East Asian Studies U.S.-Korean Relations Collection, The Library of Congress Korean Collection, and The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. This program is jointly produced by the Policy and the Education teams. Featuring: Dr. David Fields, Associate Director of the Center for East Asian Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Joe McChristian, Jr. President of The Van Fleet Foundation, Dr. Sam Rushay, Supervisory Archivist at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, and Dr. Elli Kim, Korea Reference Librarian Asian Division at The Library of Congress.

This program is made possible by the generous support of the Korea Foundation and our individual and corporate members.
For the video version of this program, please visit the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeMJ8XWKvYg
For more information, please visit the link below:
https://www.koreasociety.org/policy-and-corporate-programs/2129-resources-us-korea

March 31, 2026 - The Korea Society and Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation is proud to present Rabbi Angela Buchdahl in a conversation with Kyung Yoon.
With the ever-growing need to understand ourselves and humanity as a whole, it is necessary to examine the concepts of morality, ethics and universal values as guiding principles of the human condition. With generous support from Y.T. Hwang Family Foundation, The Korea Society presents a Series on Ethics and Common Values.

This series promotes the understanding of central themes of our human existence through a series of lectures by distinguished speakers and conversation with extraordinary individuals who exemplify the universal values in line with the mission of Y. T. Hwang Family Foundation and The Korea Society.
For more information, please visit the link below:
https://www.koreasociety.org/arts-culture/2119-rabbi-angela-buchdahl-with-kyung-yoon

February 12, 2026 - K-pop fandom's practices and activities are a primary productive force, instrumental in shaping the genre's immense global appeal, as well as its cultural influence, politics, and future potential. Over the last thirty years, the K-pop fandom has grown, intensified, and diversified, while its activities have taken on new social, technological, and economic manifestations, some of which are exclusive to K-pop and others that align with the broader cultural and industrial dynamics of global mass entertainment.

In this lecture, Areum Jeong will explore the phenomenon of performing deokhu—a Korean term connoting an "avid fan"—and the cultural significance and meaning of K-pop fan practices with a nuanced examination of contemporary audience power.
For more information, please visit the link below:
https://www.koreasociety.org/arts-culture/2105-k-pop-fandom-performing-deokhu-with-areum-jeong