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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury
@johndelury.bsky.social
400 followers 440 following 170 posts
Living in Seoul... writing on empire, China, and America... watching the two Koreas... reminiscing about Rome
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · 1h
Parade season in the Far East! Kim Jong Un is next, hosting 80th anniversary of founding of Korean Workers Party in 1945. Check out my deep dive into Cold War context:
newlinesmag.bsky.social
New Lines Magazine @newlinesmag.bsky.social · 14h
Last month’s military parade in Beijing brought together the leaders of Russia, China and North Korea. But the history of its precursors reminds us of the hidden dynamics beneath the diplomatic veneer, writes @JohnDelury.bsky.social for @newlinesmag.bsky.social
Beijing’s Military Parade May Not Be the Show of Unity That It Seems
Similarly high-profile diplomatic events involving Russia, China and North Korea in the 1950s failed to stop Cold War solidarity collapsing into acrimony
newlinesmag.com
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · 1h
Had some thoughts reading Quantico speeches by Hegseth and Trump through the lens of China's Cultural Revolution.

Shout outs to @goldkorn.bsky.social @mariarepnikova.bsky.social Geremie Barme, Orville Schell, Didi Tang

substack.com/@johndelury/...
American Mao and his Lin Biao
I read the transcripts so you don't have to, but you probably should if you haven't
substack.com
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · 5d
'How close are China, Russia, and North Korea, really?' This debate is at the heart of geopolitics. It's been going for years and will continue for a long time. In a new essay for @newlinesmag.bsky.social I offer the backlight of Cold War history to help us assess

newlinesmag.com/essays/beiji...
Beijing’s Military Parade May Not Be the Show of Unity That It Seems
Similarly high-profile diplomatic events involving Russia, China and North Korea in the 1950s failed to stop Cold War solidarity collapsing into acrimony
newlinesmag.com
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · 5d
Delighted to share my first piece for New Lines Magazine; trying to understand the 2025 parade sent me back to 1957 and 1959 looking for clues
newlinesmag.bsky.social
New Lines Magazine @newlinesmag.bsky.social · 5d
NEW: Last month’s military parade in Beijing brought together the leaders of Russia, China and North Korea. But the history of its precursors reminds us of the hidden dynamics beneath the diplomatic veneer, writes @johndelury.bsky.social for @newlinesmag.bsky.social

newlinesmag.com/essays/beiji...
Beijing’s Military Parade May Not Be the Show of Unity That It Seems
Similarly high-profile diplomatic events involving Russia, China and North Korea in the 1950s failed to stop Cold War solidarity collapsing into acrimony
newlinesmag.com
3
johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · 11d
Domestic civil resistance argument by Hardy Merriman for solidarity, a Team Democracy, have international relations implications that global leaders have not yet acted upon. Not YET. great discussion @eosnos.bsky.social @sbg1.bsky.social @janemayer.bsky.social

podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/j...
Jimmy Kimmel and the Power of Public Pressure
Podcast Episode · The Political Scene | The New Yorker · 27/09/2025 · 44m
podcasts.apple.com
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · 11d
very kind of you to say... glad you enjoyed it!
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · 11d
I wrote a new Substack about Kim-Xi-Putin vibes in Beijing, and to my surprise it ended up being mostly about hands.

Shoutouts @vanjackson.bsky.social @sheenagreitens.bsky.social @victordcha.bsky.social @colinzwirko.bsky.social @josephtorigian.bsky.social

substack.com/home/post/p-...
I Watched This Kim Jong Un Documentary So You Don't Have To
what we can learn from North Korean propaganda on Kim's visit to Beijing & the contrast between Putin and Xi
substack.com
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · 14d
Stephen Hanmer D'Elía JD, LCSW
yauguru.substack.com?r=fir&utm_ca...
Stephen Hanmer D'Elía JD, LCSW | Stephen Hanmer D'Elía,JD,LCSW | Substack
Exploring the intersections of healing, connection, and systemic change through therapy, policy, and practice. Click to read Stephen Hanmer D'Elía JD, LCSW, by Stephen Hanmer D'Elía,JD,LCSW, a Substac...
yauguru.substack.com
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · 15d
A mensch. I learned so much from him, and I feel honored too the three of us were able to have that conversation, and Jerry lives on in this as in countless projects, writings, students, cases.
dgtam86.bsky.social
Gina Anne Tam @dgtam86.bsky.social · 15d
RIP to Jerome Cohen, a truly inspiration and fascinating longtime China scholar. I'm genuinely honored I got the opportunity to chat with him once alongside @johndelury.bsky.social about American Sinology in the Cold War.
www.ncuscr.org/event/agents...
Agents of Subversion: The Fate of John T. Downey and the CIA's Covert War in China
John Delury and Jerome Cohen discuss with Gina Tam John T. Downey and the CIA in China during the early years of the PRC.
www.ncuscr.org
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · 21d
Some urban travelogue/ imperial history ruminations from me, my second post on Substack, check it out and let me know thoughts.

Free to all but if you wanna join as paid subscriber that is totally fine with me!

johndelury.substack.com/p/a-visit-to...
A Visit to Yongsan Family Park
Thinking about Imperium in the Children's Garden
johndelury.substack.com
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Sep 4
Great stuff as always from @myhlee.bsky.social @washingtonpost.com on significance of Kim Jong Un's bring your daughter to the parade. It's a fascinating and important phenomenon in terms of gauging North Korea's future. Appreciate being able to add my 2 cents

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
Kim Jong Un takes his daughter to China — and fuels succession chatter
Kim Ju Ae, who is about 12, has accompanied her father on a high-profile visit to Beijing, making it more likely that she is North Korea’s heir apparent.
www.washingtonpost.com
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Sep 2
Appreciate you @joshjonsmith.bsky.social getting 'big boys' in the headline. All eyes on Beijing tomorrow for the Big Parade. Shared some thoughts w/ @reutersworld.feeds.directory

www.reuters.com/world/china/...
North Korea's Kim Jong Un to line up with the 'big boys' at China military parade
Kim Jong Un's trip to Beijing this week offers the reclusive young North Korean leader an unprecedented opportunity to stand beside partners from China and Russia, gain implicit support for his banned nuclear weapons, and expand his diplomatic circle.
www.reuters.com
Reposted by John Delury
myhlee.bsky.social
Michelle Ye Hee Lee @myhlee.bsky.social · Sep 2
Train presumed to be transporting Kim Jong Un has pulled into Beijing, live footage shows. Kim, who rarely travels internationally, left Pyongyang yesterday in his transportation of choice — in a heavily armored, slow-moving train for 16-20 hours — for China's Victory Day military parade Wednesday.
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 31
Enjoyed talking w/ @npr.org Anthony Kuhn for his insightful preview of next week's Victory Parade in Beijing & surprise announcement that Kim Jong Un will attend. I'm thinking a lot about historical echoes & hope to write something along those lines...

www.npr.org/2025/08/29/g...
In a first, Kim Jong Un will attend a gathering of leaders with both Putin and Xi
When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits China next week for a military parade, it will be his debut at a gathering of foreign leaders for a rare meeting of China, Russia and North Korea.
www.npr.org
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 28
Hard not to see the timing of this announcement in light of South Korean president visiting Tokyo en route to White House and embracing trilateral US-Japan-ROK cooperation
johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 28
Beijing had been trying to get ROK president Lee Jae-myung to attend. I've been arguing he should go, getting lots of pushback to that idea in my discussion in Seoul. He might regret he didn't say yes. Too late?
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 28
Kim's attendance was not a widely expected development. It's his first visit to China since a flurry of four trips in 2018-19. First meeting in person with Xi since Xi's brief visit to Pyongyang in June 2019.
www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/o...
Opinion | Why Xi Jinping Is Courting Kim Jong-un (Published 2019)
www.nytimes.com
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 28
Hope I can write an epilogue to Journal of Asian Studies piece on the parade in 2015. h/t @jwassers.bsky.social

Back then, Kim sent his #2 who hid in a back row while ROK president Park Geunhye was VIP guest
jstor.org/stable/24738...
Looking Back on the Seventieth Anniversary of Japan's Surrender on JSTOR
JOHN DELURY, SHEILA A. SMITH, MARIA REPNIKOVA, SRINATH RAGHAVAN, Looking Back on the Seventieth Anniversary of Japan's Surrender, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 74, No. 4 (NOVEMBER 2015), pp. 797-...
jstor.org
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 28
Kim Jong Un will be standing on the Tiananmen Rostrum next week alongside Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping for the military parade commemorating end of WWII
english.news.cn/20250828/38b...
Kim Jong Un to attend China's V-Day commemorations on Sept. 3
english.news.cn
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 28
You could say it was triage, establishing rapport with Trump AND with the DC natsec establishment on the same trip. But hard choices await in terms of words and deeds if Lee is serious about peacemaking, or even 'pacemaking', w/ Kim Jong Un.
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John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 28
IMHO Prez Lee will have to tell audiences like CSIS things they don't want to hear, hard truths about what progress with the DPRK will have to look like. It's early days, and there's a logic to reassuring the Ally on first trip, esp given the instability in the Alliance.
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 28
The inherent risk in a 'pragmatic' foreign policy is telling everyone what they want to hear, which, since everyone is listening to everything all the time, is not sustainable.
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John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 28
North Korean state media responded swiftly with a blistering KCNA commentary deriding Lee by name. It focused entirely on the CSIS speech, nothing about White House session. Not the end of the world, but not a good start.
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John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 28
For my part, I thought WH performance was indeed skillful. Not so sure about the subsequent speech at CSIS. Prez Lee told the crowd what it wanted to hear, delivering a hardline speech on North Korea, at least by 'progressive' standards.
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johndelury.bsky.social
John Delury @johndelury.bsky.social · Aug 28
Lots of thoughts as dust settles on SK prez Lee Jae-myung's visit to DC. He got high marks here in Seoul for avoiding White House humiliation/ disaster. Disciplined performance with cameras rolling. Good steward of ROK-US relationship.
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