Mission

Located at the University of Vienna, the European Centre for North Korean Studies (ECNK) is a platform for scholars and researchers to pursue multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and comparative research on North Korea. 

We endeavor to help interested colleagues from within and outside Europe to accomplish the following goals:

  • Define and develop North Korean Studies as a field through research and collaboration.
  • Work with current and potential stakeholders.
  • Find, discuss, and improve data, sources, and methods.
  • Further institutionalize the field of North Korean studies. 

The ECNK will support these objectives through the following actions:

  • Hosting individual researchers or research groups who have acquired funding, or intend to do so, and need an institution through which to pursue their research projects on North Korea.
  • Building and supporting a network of researchers from the field of North Korean Studies or among those whose research involves a substantive focus on North Korea through non-resident fellowships and a Ph.D. Network.
  • Connecting European and non-European colleagues by hosting joint events, such as conferences and workshops.
  • Hosting North Korea-related databases.

To learn more about the motivation behind the ECNK and who we are, read our Background statement. You can submit a plan for collaboration at the Join Us page. 


 Most Recent Announcements

18.02.2025
 

Join Session 2 of the webinar series on February 18, 2025.

06.02.2025
 

[Book] Hidden Heroes: Anthology of North Korean Fiction

Hidden Heroes is a collection of short stories from the 1980s to present that unveil the lives of ordinary North Koreans.

31.01.2025
 

[Article] The January 2025 Session of the North Korean Parliament: An Unusual Oath and the Absence of a “Russia-Effect”

On 38 North, Prof. Rüdiger Frank discusses the main issues of North Korean Supreme People's Assembly's latest session.

27.01.2025
 

[Guest Lecture] The Economic Situation of North Korea in 2025

Save the date for an University of Vienna guest lecture by Prof. Dr. Bernhard Seliger on January 27, 2025.

15.01.2025
 

[Guest Lecture] Cultural Representations of North Koreans in South Korean Popular Culture:The Intersectionality of Gender, Class & the Division System

Save the date for an University of Vienna guest lecture by Prof. Sung Kyung Kim on January 15, 2025.

08.01.2025
 

[Book] Millennial North Korea: Forbidden Media and Living Creatively with Surveillance

Suk-Young Kim reveals how the rise of digital media is empowering a generation to challenge the cracks in the world’s most secretive regime.