[KS] M.Y. Cho

[Frank Hoffmann]

Dear All:

I wanted to let you know that Dr. Myunghun Y. Cho, better known to 
the Asian studies community and his friends as M.Y. Cho, passed away 
on Sunday, March 12, in Hamburg. There will be a memorial on what 
would have been his 75th birthday, Thursday, March 23, 3 PM, at 
Ohlsdorfer Friedhof, Halle B., Hamburg.

For many years M.Y. Cho had been the North Korea specialist at the 
Institute of Asian Affairs in Hamburg. He had received his M.A. in 
the United States before continuing his academic career at Bonn 
University, Germany, where he received his PhD in 1965. Many of you 
will know his works about diplomatic relations between East Asian 
nations, especially the North Korea related publications. And you 
will likely know him through his really enlightening commentaries in 
the (English language) publication >>North Korea Quarterly<< which he 
published for the Institute of Asian Affairs from 1974 on until his 
retirement. I should also mention that he wrote very many long 
feature articles on East Asia for the leading German liberal 
intellectual weekly >>Die ZEIT.<<

On one of these rainy days that the City of Hamburg offers more than 
plenty of, I was sitting in his office, asking him for copies of 
his >>Die ZEIT<< articles. He did not quite take me serious then. I 
remember spending all weekend to read through them with growing 
enthusiasm. That was 25 years ago. In all the time since I have 
hardly seen any publications on current Korean affairs written in 
such well crafted German prose, being so entertaining, vivid, and 
intellectually challenging than these articles. As all his friends 
are aware of, M.Y. Cho knew how to enjoy every minute of his life, 
and his warm humor and intellectualism allowed anyone in his presence 
to share this joy of life while sharing his company. He truly was a 
wonderful man and we are saddened by his death.

Frank Hoffmann



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Frank Hoffmann
http://koreaweb.ws