Asan in the News

[Arirang Radio] 2015-7-24

“Kurdish Pop Diva, Peshmerga, and Battling the ISIS in Nothern Iraq”

* Good Morning Seoul (7.24)

1. Tell me about this Kurdish singer Helly Luv. Who is she? Why is she singing about the fight against the ISIS in northern Iraq?

2. Who are the Kurds the singer sings about?

3. Why is the fighting in Iraqi Kurdistan led by Peshmerga, the Kurdish military forces, against the ISIS so ciritical?

4. What is the relationahip betwen KRG( the Kurdistan Regional Government) in Northern Iraq and Korea? How does the current conflict in KRG and Iraq affect Korea?

About Experts

Jang Ji-Hyang
Jang Ji-Hyang

Center for Regional Studies

Dr. JANG Ji-Hyang is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Middle East and North Africa at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Dr. Jang served as a policy advisor on Middle East issues to South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2012-2018). Previously, Dr. Jang taught comparative and Middle East politics at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Ewha Woman’s University, and the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Her research interests include political economy of the Middle East and North Africa, political Islam, comparative democratization, terrorism, and state-building. Dr. Jang is the author of numerous books and articles, including The Essential Guide to the Middle East (Sigongsa 2023 in Korean), The Arab Spring: Will It Lead to Democratic Transitions?(with Clement M. Henry (eds.), Palgrave Macmillan 2013), “Disaggregated ISIS and the New Normal of Terrorism” (Asan Issue Brief 2016), “Islamic Fundamentalism” (International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences 2008) and a Korean translation of Fawaz Gerges’ Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy (Asan Institute 2011). Dr. Jang received a B.A. in Turkish studies and M.A. in political science from the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Texas at Austin.