Dr Sarah A. Son
BA, MA, PhD
School of Languages, Arts and Societies
Senior Lecturer in Korean Studies
07572023571
Full contact details
School of Languages, Arts and Societies
4.14
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
Sheffield
S3 7RA
- Profile
-
Dr Sarah Son joined the University of Sheffield in 2019. She completed her PhD at SOAS, University of London, in 2014, before spending five years working in South Korea in the civil society sector on North Korean human rights. Her work included research and monitoring of abuses; reporting and media engagement; consulting with the United Nations, foreign missions and advocacy organisations; and managing human rights documentation training projects for NGOs both in and outside Korea.
Her research sits at the intersection of international relations, human rights, and cultural politics, with a focus on North Korea, inter-Korean relations, and Korean identities. She examines how narratives of victimhood, justice, and nationhood circulate across media, education, religious spaces and diaspora activism. Her current work investigates North Korean diaspora human rights activism and the possibilities and constraints it creates for transitional justice and political change.
Alongside her academic publications, Dr Son contributes to public debate on Korean politics, society, and culture. She provides media commentary and writes for online platforms including The Conversation, addressing topics such as inter-Korean relations and Korean popular culture.
Dr Son is Director of the Centre for Korean Studies at the University of Sheffield, funded by the Academy of Korean Studies Core Grant Programme. In this role, she leads Korean Studies research, knowledge exchange, and public engagement activities, and works with academic, policy, and civil society partners to promote understanding of Korea in the UK and internationally.
- Qualifications
-
- BA International Relations (Hons) (Bond University)
- MA International Studies and Diplomacy (SOAS)
- PhD Korean International Relations (SOAS)
- Research interests
-
Dr Son's research explores the intersections of international relations, human rights, and cultural politics in and around the Korean Peninsula. She is particularly interested in how questions of identity, justice, and political community are negotiated across borders through activism, media, and state narratives. Her work examines North Korean human rights activism and diaspora politics, as well as broader debates around inter-Korean relations, nation branding, and the international promotion of national identity. She has supervised doctoral research on contemporary political movements in South Korea, ethnographic research with North Korean escapees, and the identities and political engagement of ethnic Korean diaspora communities.
- Publications
-
Books
- Propaganda, survival, and living to tell the truth : an analysis of North Korean refugee memoirs. Palgrave Macmillan. View this article in WRRO
Journal articles
- Participatory transitional justice as anticipatory project: North Korea, diasporas and uncertain futures. International Journal of Transitional Justice. View this article in WRRO
- Fostering critically compassionate global citizens: A UK university study abroad experience in South Korea. International Journal of Educational Research, 133, 102672-102672.
- K-drama narrates the national: Korean identities in Crash Landing on You. Asian Perspective, 46(3), 501-521.
- Preparing for transitional justice in North Korea. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 76(2), 121-129.
- Watching North Korea from the sky: remote sensing and documenting human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Political Geography, 92.
- Chasing Justice: Victim Engagement with Accountability for Human Rights Abuses in North Korea. Asian Studies Review, 44(4), 621-640.
- National identity and social integration in international marriages between anglophone women and Korean men. Asian Survey, 59(4), 630-652. View this article in WRRO
- South Korea’s North Korean image problem : human rights under the spotlight. Asian Studies Review, 42(4), 662-681. View this article in WRRO
- Identity and social reconciliation in a postconflict Korea: What role for the church?. International Bulletin of Mission Research, 42(2), 143-151. View this article in WRRO
- Finding Unity: Christian Reflections on Overcoming the Inter-Korean Division. International Bulletin of Mission Research, 42(2), 102-104.
- North Korea’s human rights insecurity : state image management in the post-UN COI era. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, 5(1), 138-149. View this article in WRRO
- Identity, security and the nation : understanding the South Korean response to North Korean defectors. Asian Ethnicity, 17(2), 171-184. View this article in WRRO
- Unity, division and ideational security on the Korean peninsula : challenges to overcoming the Korean conflict. North Korean Review, 11(2), 45-62. View this article in WRRO
Book chapters
- Screening the Inter-Korean Conflict: The Politics of Crash Landing on You In Lim S (Ed.), South Korean Popular Culture in the Global Context: Beyond the Fandom (pp. 94-115). London: Routledge. View this article in WRRO
- Screening the Inter-Korean Conflict, South Korean Popular Culture in the Global Context (pp. 94-115). Taylor & Francis
- South Korean national identity and inter-Korean relations since 1945 In Lim S & Alsford NJP (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Contemporary South Korea (pp. 241-257). Routledge View this article in WRRO
- Propaganda, survival, and living to tell the truth : an analysis of North Korean refugee memoirs. Palgrave Macmillan. View this article in WRRO
- Teaching interests
-
North and South Korean politics and society, East Asian international relations, nation branding, identity, migration, global citizenship, human rights
- Teaching activities
-
I have always had love of learning, and a large part of this has been down to those who have taught me various subjects across my academic career with clear passion and enthusiasm for their subject matter.
These are qualities I work to emulate in my own teaching, while incorporating a range of activities that give students opportunities to learn and practice key skills they can apply in their careers as graduates.
My modules encourage students to develop confidence and independence in their learning, while gaining an understanding of the issues that face the region from a range of perspectives.
The modules I teach are:
- Understanding Contemporary North Korea
PhD Students
- Shinhye Lee
- Jeongwon Lee, Catrin Snaith
- Professional activities and memberships
-
British Association for Korean Studies Council Member
Recent non-academic publications:
- North Korea human rights activists in South Korea struggle under Moon Jae-in, for NK Pro, 7 July 2021.
- South Korea and Japan’s COVID-19 Image War, for East Asia Forum, 4 June 2020.
- Two North Korean defectors just got elected to South Korea’s National Assembly – but are already fighting for their credibility, for The Conversation, 29 May 2020.
- Crash Landing on You: Korean drama crosses the north-south divide, for The Conversation, February 25, 2020
- North Korea: how public execution sites are being mapped with Google Earth satellite images, for The Conversation, August 28, 2019
- North Korea’s Missing Dead, for The Diplomat, June 26, 2019
- A very distant hope for North Koreans, for policyforum.net, February 26, 2019