The evidentiary weight of North Korean defectors’ testimony depicting crimes against humanity has drawn considerable attention from the international community in recent years. Despite the ramped-up attention to North Korean human rights, what remains unexamined is the rise of the transnational advocacy network which drew attention to the issue in the first place. In their new book, North Korean Human Rights: Activists and Networks, Andrew Yeo and Danielle Chubb lead a team of scholars in tracing the emergence and evolution of North Korean human rights activism. Together they challenge existing conceptions of transnational advocacy, how they operate, and why they provoke a response from even the most recalcitrant regimes. In this event, Professor Yeo draws particular attention to the politics of North Korean human rights in both domestic and international contexts. He explains the relevance and importance of human rights even as the diplomatic environment on the Korean Peninsula shifts from pressure towards engagement.

Andrew Yeo is Associate Professor of Politics and Director of Asian Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Asia's Regional Architecture: Alliances and Institutions in the Pacific Century (Stanford University Press 2019) and has written or co-edited three other books: North Korean Human Rights: Activists and Networks (Cambridge University Press 2018);  Living in an Age of Mistrust:An Interdisciplinary Study of Declining Trust and How to Get it Back (Routledge Press 2017); and Activists, Alliances, and Anti-U.S. Base Protests (Cambridge University Press 2011). His  research and teaching interests include international relations theory; East Asian regionalism; Asian security; narratives and discourse; the formation of beliefs, ideas, and worldviews; civil society; social and transnational movements, overseas basing strategy and U.S. force posture; Korean politics; and North Korea. He is a former term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the recipient of Catholic University's Young Faculty Scholar's Award in 2013. He received his Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University, and BA in Psychology and International Studies from Northwestern University.