EUM Research Institute is a non-profit research organization founded in October 2020 by 12 founding members. These members were born and raised in North Korea and now living in South Korea. Collectively, founding members hope to contribute to the peace and unification of the two Koreas through conducting in-depth, people-centered research based on a diversified understanding of North Korean people and society.

There have been numerous studies on the North Korean regime and nuclear issues in the past several decades. Nonetheless, research focusing on people living in the North is scarce. Several important questions remain unanswered and unexplored: How have ordinary North Koreans been managing and navigating their daily lives? What are their thoughts and emotions about the social structure? What kind of culture have they created? How do they imagine their future? Researchers at EUM are examining these questions to improve our understanding of people in the North and to minimize the gap between the North and the South. We sincerely believe that true unification will begin when the people of North and South acknowledge and respect each other’s differences. EUM Research Institute will make a movement that can create a peaceful future for the Korean Peninsula.