- Title: The New Forms and Ethics of Individualism and Their Social Consequences in South Korea
- Date: Friday, Oct 20th, 2023
- Time: 3:30-5:00PM (PST)
- Location: The Case Room (Room 132), UBC Liu Institute for Global Issues
- Speaker: Dr. Avram Agov (Faculty Member of Asian Studies Department at Langara College)
- Bio: Avram Agov received a BA in philosophy (second major in history) at Sofia University, Bulgaria. He was a visiting scholar at Columbia University on a Fulbright Fellowship, and received an MA in Regional Studies-East Asia at Harvard University. Dr. Agov studied at the Korean Language Institute of Yonsei University in Seoul and worked in Samsung Electronics in South Korea. He received his PhD at the History Department of the University of British Columbia. He is studying North Korea in the socialist world during the Cold War.
- Abstract: Beyond the political and ideological dimensions, socialist solidarity with North Koreans during the Korean War had an important human one. The Korean War created the communist alliance system that proved critical for North Korea’s survival. China and the Soviet Union receive the bulk of scholarly attention in studies of foreign involvement on the communist side of the Korean War. This presentation will examine the East European role in that war by focusing on two case studies: the Bulgarian medical brigade in North Korea and the care of North Korean orphans in Bulgaria. My argument is that these aid programs brought socialist countries closer together on a human level, helping to create a socialist community with lasting people-to-people relations. The dispatch of medics from socialist countries to the DPRK was a major aid effort both during and after the Korean War. This narrative will follow the work and organization of the Bulgarian medical brigade in North Korea and its relations with local institutions and people. The other example of humanitarian aid is the hosting and education of North Korean orphans in Bulgaria, which began during the Korean War and continued until 1960. The presentation examines the integration of North Korean children into the Bulgarian education system, locations and social relations of the program. The presentation will include many archival photographs to illustrate the atmosphere and the human effect of these aid programs.