There are few things in life more pleasurable to “logging on” (perhaps better to “clock in”) to the Internet to manuever one’s way through to a nice thick collection of German-sponsored working papers about East Asia. GIGA in Hamburg in particular has been releasing dozens of excellent papers analyzing China, North Korea, and Asia generally. These smoothly-produced pdfs are precisely the cure for those who, like me, can rapidly tire of the vapidity of the Internet, and just need a few hundred footnotes to settle the nerves and bring about what is hoped to be a deeper level of understanding of the region.
Promising articles include one on Chinese just war theory, on ‘mobilizing consent’ in the PRC, on challenging Party hegemony on BBS fora, and — probably the best — “In Search of Legitimacy in Post-Mao China.”
German-language readers and North Korea watchers should not miss Patrick Koellner’s paper on the second transformation of the North Korean dynastic system.
For an overview of scores of new publications and conference papers being produced in France, including projects called “Virtual Hankou” and “Virtual Shanghai,” check out the bulletin (in English) of the Lyon Institute for Oriental Studies.
If lighter fare is what you’re out for today, new book by my colleague E. Taylor Atkins appears looking at “Koreans in the Japanese colonial gaze”, and The Grand Narrative moves through girl bands in Korea analysis and translates some lyrics.
Adam Cathcart 
Sir, I have to say, that “In Search of Legitimacy in Post-Mao Chna” is a very interesting subject. The Double-edged sword of Nationalim. Comment; if we do not prevent and overcome the threat of legitimacy crisis, living only by the old dictum that “anyone can rule by force alone”, then it is not inconceivable that we will follow the same path as the Soviet Union. Is the CCP realizing that they need to change for the benefit of the doubt or they just keep trying to control the people like they been doing so far, Explain?