Korea expert and faculty member retires

Born in China, Park is the son of Korean immigrant parents. His early years were shaped by two civil wars, first in China when the Communists rose to power. After Park's family moved back to Korea, he saw the devastation caused by the Korean War.

Though he spent much of his career in the Franklin College prior to the founding of SPIA in 2001, we won't claim Dr. Park though we certainly will share in the tribute to his great expertise and scholarship. If you were engaged in current events in the early nineties, the missile crisis in North Korea was one of the biggest international stories - the details of which hardly anyone knew, much less understood. It went on for many months and Dr. Park was in the middle of it as a commentator and expert on the fairly unknown intricacies of the culture of North Korea and the behavior of its leader, Kim Il Sung. As a political science major in the Franklin College during those years, I had the great good fortune to have taken a course in Asian politics with Dr. Park and as a result, learned more about the situation and the 'Juche' ideology behind it than an undergraduate had any right to be taught, directly, but such a scholar.

Congratulations on your retirement, Dr. Park. Truly one of UGA's greatest public intellectuals, the influence of his public scholarship set the standard for faculty engagement inside as well as beyond the classroom.