On Thursday, January 26th, NIU College of Law Professor Morse Tan lectured as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Ralph J. Bunche Library Distinguished Lecture Series. Professor Tan lectured on the topic of North Korea in the Bunche Library itself. Professor Tan spoke to an audience of seasoned State Department personnel, North Korea experts and other distinguished guests on a number of timely issues surrounding the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
In his lecture, Professor Tan outlined the international law concepts of responsibility to protect and humanitarian intervention, and then applied them in order to propose strategic solutions to the predicaments in North Korea.
Professor Tan then took several challenging questions from his audience after the lecture. During the Q & A, he focused on answers to both the abuse of human rights by the DPRK regime on its citizens and foreign nationals as well as the security crisis created by North Korean proliferation.
Tan’s message was that the crises in North Korea could be solved with courage, wisdom and determination.
The lecture was video-recorded for Department of State employees worldwide to watch.
Professor Tan is an expert on both North Korea and International Law and has written a number of articles and book chapters on the subjects as well as sharing his thoughts on radio, television and in podcasts. His book North Korea, International Law and the Dual Crises: Narrative and Constructive Engagement, was published by Routledge in 2015.
The Bunche Library was founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1789 and rededicated to Mr. Bunche on May 5, 1997. It is the oldest federal governmental library in the country.
