Three Honorary Members of the Association were appointed by the Council in 2000. They are H.E. the Korean Ambassador, Dr Choi Sung-hong, Brigadier Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, and Richard Rutt, formerly Bishop in Taejon.

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On 8 November 2000 the British Museum's new Korea Foundation gallery was officially opened, in the presence of a large audience which included the President of the Korea Foundation and the Korean Ambassador, the Heritage Secretary Mr Chris Smith, and the Museum's Director. Mrs Jane Portal was chiefly responsible for the preparation of the display, which won widespread acclaim.

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HM Government formally recognised the regime in North Korea (DPRK) on 12 December 2000, and in January 2001 the President of BAKS, Dr James Hoare, was appointed British Charge d'Affaires to Pyongyang. He was concurrently attached as Counsellor to the British Embassy in Seoul. His first task will be to establish a British Embassy in Pyongyang, prior to the appointment of the first British Ambassador to the DPRK.

BAKS Council appointed the Immediate Past President, Professor Keith Pratt, to replace him until the next Annual General Meeting. It is proposed that this should be held in the autumn at a workshop devoted to non-political aspects of North Korea.

Meanwhile, Dr Hazel Smith continues her secondment to North Korea with the United Nations, and Mrs Jane Portal led a British Museum delegation to Pyongyang in March 2001.

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Following a BAKS initiative, the UK-Korea Forum for the Future set up an Education Working Group, chaired by Baroness Perry. Among its aims are the improvement of mutual understanding between the UK and Korea at school and college level. As a first step, it has assisted in establishing a link between Egglescliffe Comprehensive School, Stockton-on-Tees and Annam Middle School, Inchon. Future Newsletters will include reports on the progress of this link.

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The Korea Foundation has awarded a grant of $28,320 to Dr Jay Lewis (Wolfson College, Oxford) for a conference to be held in August 2001 on 'The Imjin Waeran - Hideyoshi's Invasion of Korea: Problems and Perspectives'.

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BAKS member Professor Martina Deuchler will be honoured by the presentation of special papers to mark her retirement at the April 2001 AKSE Conference, to be held at the School of Oriental and African Studies.

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The next meeting of the BAKS Council will be held in late June/early July 2001. Any members with business for the Agenda should send it to the Secretary or the Immediate Past President as soon as possible.