Dear Friends,

Very glad to let you know of the news on North Koreas recognition of Dr. Hulbert.
North Korea have never mentioned of or recognized the accomplishments of Dr. Hulbert in any field.
But a scholar from North Koreas The Social Science Academy, the most renowned study institute, in a workshop held in Shenyang, China on Aug. 17~18, 2018
and participated by scholars from South Korea, China, and North Korea, recognized Dr. Hulbert as the man who firstly made up musical scores of Arirang, a famous Korean folksong, in history in 1896.
This is the first mentioning by North Korea on Dr. Hulbert.
Mr. Lee Young Ho, a scholar on music, praised Dr. Hulbert for his historical accomplishment on Arirang and called him an American who came to Korea in Joseon dynasty.
A number of Korean newspapers largely covered this and interpreted this as a consequential effect of recent events of North/South/America summits took place this year.
They view that this is a very unusal thing and anticipate changing attitudes toward America down the road.
I visited PyongYang in 2008 and asked The Academy to study about the accomplishments of Dr. Hulbert, and also did the same thing in 2014 in GaeSeong. I strongly asked them to treat Dr. Hulbert as he deserved for his contribution to Korea, but nothing was heard till date.

Best regards to all of you.

DongJin Kim, Chairman, The Hulbert Memorial Society