Korean Studies occupies a small space in academia, a virtual shrimp among whales in the larger humanities ocean.
What happens, then, when one of the titans in this close-knit field is accused of plagiarism? Furthermore, what if it became clear that it was your work he or she had ripped off as their own?
Professor Balázs Szalontai found himself in this very situation, and it took years of painstaking effort to build the case against Charles Armstrong at Columbia University.
What unfolded was a scandal that rocked the Korean Studies field with implications that are still becoming apparent.
We talk with Szalontai about it, plus his scholarly work on North Korea, Pyongyang’s involvement in the Vietnam War, and what happened after Armstrong was exposed for stealing his work.
Balázs Szalontai is a professor in the North Korean Studies department at Korea University. He is a historian who focuses on the Cold War and well as the domestic and foreign policies of Communist regimes, particularly North Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, and Albania.
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About the podcast: The “North Korea News Podcast” is a weekly podcast hosted exclusively by NK News, covering all things DPRK: from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field and insight from our very own journalists.
Featured image: Rodong Sinmun