DOCSLIB.ORG

Pyongyang's Survival Strategy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Pyongyang's Survival Strategy Pyongyang’s Survival Strategy Pyongyang’s Survival Daniel Byman and Strategy Jennifer Lind Tools of Authoritarian Control in North Korea In the early 1990s, many observers predicted that Kim Il-sung’s regime would not survive the cessation of Russian aid and the resulting downward spiral of North Korea’s economy. Speculation about regime collapse intensiªed when the less charis- matic Kim Jong-il succeeded his father in 1994, and again after the 1996–97 famine that killed upwards of a million North Koreans. Gen. Gary Luck, com- mander of U.S. forces in Korea, declared in 1997 that North Korea would “dis- integrate.” That same year, a U.S. government and outside team of experts predicted regime collapse within ªve years.1 Another decade brought more prognostications: in 2000 Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet warned that “sudden, radical, and possibly dangerous change remains a real possibil- ity in North Korea, and that change could come at any time.”2 Three years later, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said that North Korea was “teetering on the edge of economic collapse.”3 Contemporary accounts warn that the regime is threatened by the growing ºow of information into the country or by popular outcry touched off by the government’s 2009 bungling of currency reform.4 Daniel Byman is Professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and Senior Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. Jennifer Lind is Assistant Professor of Government at Dartmouth College. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. They are also grateful to Lisa Baldez, Peter Beck, Stephen Brooks, John Carey, Robert Carlin, Victor Cha, Bruce Cumings, Michael Green, David Kang, Michael Mazaar, Daryl Press, Richard Samuels, Scott Snyder, Benjamin Valentino, Christianne Hardy Wohlforth, William Wohlforth, and Sarah Yerkes. In addition, they wish to thank participants at the conference “Why Communism Didn’t Collapse: Understanding Regime Resilience in China, Vietnam, Laos, North Korea, and Cuba,” Dartmouth College, May 25–26, 2007. 1. Quoted in Bruce Cumings, North Korea: Another Country (New York: New Press, 2004), p. 199. For reviews of this literature, see Marcus Noland, “North Korea after Kim Jong-il,” No. 71 (Wash- ington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, 2004), pp. 12–15; and Kongdan Oh and Ralph Hassig, “North Korea between Collapse and Reform,” Asian Survey, Vol. 39, No. 2 (March/April 1999), p. 289 n. 4. 2. George J. Tenet, director of Central Intelligence, statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “The Worldwide Threat in 2000: Global Realities of Our National Security,” 106th Cong., 2d sess., March 21, 2000, https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/ 2000/dci_speech_032100.html. 3. U.S. Department of Defense, “Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz Q&A Following IISS Asia Security Conference,” Singapore, Singapore, May 31, 2003, http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/ transcript.aspx?transcriptidϭ2704. 4. Choe Sang-hun, “Economic Measures by North Korea Prompt New Hardships and Unrest,” New York Times, February 3, 2010. On information ºows, see Andrei Lankov, “Changing North International Security, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Summer 2010), pp. 44–74 © 2010 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 44 Pyongyang’s Survival Strategy 45 Reports of the Kim regime’s death, however, have been greatly exagger- ated. What has kept the regime in power despite the many challenges it con- fronts? What are the implications for the regime’s future durability and for its foreign policy? Understanding the answers to these questions is vital for in- forming U.S. policy, which at times has been predicated on predictions of the regime’s short lifespan. In 1994, some ofªcials in Bill Clinton’s administration reportedly agreed to support the provision of light water reactors to North Korea under the assumption that the country’s imminent collapse meant that Washington would not have to deliver on its promises.5 Furthermore, knowledge of what underpins the regime’s power is essential for understanding which coercive levers are more or less likely to inºuence its decisionmaking, particularly with regard to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Indeed, the signiªcance of this topic goes well beyond North Korea: the United States regularly confronts a range of autocracies that endure de- spite their cruelty and mismanagement (Iran being another prominent exam- ple).6 Washington must understand what keeps these regimes in power as it strives to weaken or contain them. Understanding Kim Jong-il’s tenacity is also vital for social science, which often regards famine, economic disasters, le- gitimacy challenges, and other crises as death knells for an authoritarian regime. Drawing from a literature about authoritarian control, we argue that the Kim regime relies on several tools to stay in power: restrictive social policies; manipulation of ideas and information; use of force; co-optation; manipulation of foreign governments; and institutional coup-prooªng. These tools help to explain its seemingly puzzling survival and suggest that a revolution or coup d’état in North Korea remains unlikely. When designing coercive strategies, such as economic sanctions, U.S. and in- ternational policymakers should target the regime’s elite core rather than the country as a whole. Most traditional means of coercion, such as broad sanc- tions or limited military strikes, are likely to fail or may even increase the Kim regime’s control. With regard to North Korea’s nuclear program, in particular, the United States must recognize that much of its logic is internal to the re- gime, helping it to win the support of key constituents: therefore security guar- Korea,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 88, No. 6 (November/December 2009), pp. 95–105; and Choe Sang- hun, “North Koreans Use Cellphones to Bare Secrets,” New York Times, March 29, 2010. 5. Selig S. Harrison, Korean Endgame: A Strategy for Reuniªcation and U.S. Disengagement (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000), p. 4. 6. Richard Bernstein, “In Tehran, Shades of Tiananmen,” New York Times, July 1, 2009. Many U.S. ofªcials expected Saddam Hussein’s regime to fall in the aftermath of his Desert Storm defeat. Thomas E. Ricks, Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (New York: Penguin, 2007). International Security 35:1 46 antees or other inducements that try to reduce Pyongyang’s external threat environment will be of only limited effectiveness. The literature on authoritarian control applied to the North Korean case pre- dicts the Kim regime’s continued resilience. Does this mean that the regime will survive indeªnitely? Not necessarily. What this body of theory does, at its best, is allow scholars and policymakers to identify which categories of events are more or less likely to occur. As is always the case in social science, there are factors that affect politics on the ground, which even the best theories do not capture, and which this analysis will thus not consider. There is always, as Niccolò Machiavelli put it, fortuna whose whims a leader may or may not sur- vive.7 Nevertheless, to contribute to the debate about the Kim regime’s future, we argue that a substantial theoretical literature would hold that the factors that promote regime stability continue to be present in North Korea. In the next section, we outline theories about how dictators stay in power, support them with additional evidence from autocracies in the Middle East and North Africa, and apply them to the North Korean case to understand the strength of the regime’s position there. We show that the Kim regime, far from being sui generis or led by erratic leaders, has pursued a wide range of policies that have sustained dictators all over the world. Before concluding, we address several important counterarguments to our ªndings. In the ªnal section, we discuss the implications of this analysis for regime stability and for U.S. policy toward Pyongyang. The Authoritarian Toolbox in North Korea Authoritarian regimes are threatened by popular revolution (whether peaceful or violent) or by a coup led by the military or other elites.8 A large literature has identiªed and substantiated how dictators survive in the face of these threats.9 From this literature, we develop a “toolbox” that dictators rely on to 7. On contingency, see Richard J. Samuels, Machiavelli’s Children: Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2003), p. 4; and Guillermo O’Donnell and Philippe C. Schmitter, eds., Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Vol. 4, Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain Democracies (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986). 8. Authoritarian regimes may also be toppled by a foreign power. This article does not examine how leaders protect themselves from this threat; we consider external forces only insofar as they inºuence a leader’s ability to defeat domestic opponents. 9. Classic works on revolution include Theda Skocpol, States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979); James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1987); Charles Tilly, From Mobilization to Revolution (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1978), and Ted Robert Gurr, Why Men Rebel (Princeton, N.J.:
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Forex Effect US Dollars, Overseas Networks, and Illicit North Korean Finance the Forex Effect
    The Forex Effect US Dollars, Overseas Networks, and Illicit North Korean Finance The Forex Effect ABOUT C4ADS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS C4ADS (www.c4ads.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit C4ADS would like to thank Bill Newcomb, a organization dedicated to data-driven analysis and C4ADS fellow and former member of the UN Panel evidence-based reporting of conflict and security of Experts Sanctions Committee 1718; John Park of issues worldwide. We seek to alleviate the analytical the Harvard Kennedy School; Joshua Stanton, an burden carried by public sector institutions by attorney in Washington D.C.; Anthony Ruggiero applying manpower, depth, and rigor to questions of of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; and conflict and security. the many other individuals who generously provided advice and insight. Additionally, this report would Our approach leverages nontraditional investigative not have been possible without C4ADS technology techniques and emerging analytical technologies. partners, whose software and systems were integral We recognize the value of working on the ground in to the project’s success. the field, capturing local knowledge, and collecting original data to inform our analysis. At the same time, we employ cutting edge technology to manage and analyze that data. The result is an innovative LEGAL DISCLAIMER analytical approach to conflict prevention and mitigation. The mention of any individual, company, organization, or other entity in this report does not imply the © C4ADS 2017 violation of any law or international agreement, and should not be construed as such. Throughout this report, we refer to and rely on criminal and civil ABOUT THE SEJONG INSTITUTE complaints filed by the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Book Review of "Nothing to Envy," by Barbara Demick, and "The Cleanest Race," by B.R
    Book review of "Nothing to Envy," by Barbara Demick, and "The Cleanest Race," by B.R. Myers By Stephen Kotkin Sunday, February 28, 2010 NOTHING TO ENVY Ordinary Lives in North Korea By Barbara Demick Spiegel & Grau. 314 pp. $26 THE CLEANEST RACE How North Koreans See Themselves -- and Why It Matters By B.R. Myers Melville House. 200 pp. $24.95 "If you look at satellite photographs of the Far East by night, you'll see a large splotch curiously lacking in light," writes Barbara Demick on the first page of "Nothing to Envy." "This area of darkness is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." As a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, Demick discovered that the country isn't illuminated any further by traveling there. So she decided to penetrate North Korea's closed society by interviewing the people who had gotten out, the defectors, with splendid results. Of the hundred North Koreans Demick says she interviewed in South Korea, we meet six: a young kindergarten teacher whose aspirations were blocked by her father's prewar origins in the South ("tainted blood"); a boy of impeccable background who made the leap to university in Pyongyang and whose impossible romance with the kindergarten teacher forms the book's heart; a middle-age factory worker who is a model communist, a mother of four and the book's soul; her daughter; an orphaned young man; and an idealistic female hospital doctor, who looked on helplessly as the young charges in her care died of hunger during the 1996-99 famine.
    [Show full text]
  • Marxism-Leninism in the History of North Korean Ideology, 1945-1989
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles From Soviet Origins to Chuch’e: Marxism-Leninism in the History of North Korean Ideology, 1945-1989 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures by Thomas Stock 2018 © Copyright by Thomas Stock 2018 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION From Soviet Origins to Chuch’e: Marxism-Leninism in the History of North Korean Ideology, 1945-1989 by Thomas Stock Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures University of California, Los Angeles, 2018 Professor Namhee Lee, Chair Where lie the origins of North Korean ideology? When, why, and to what extent did North Korea eventually pursue a path of ideological independence from Soviet Marxism- Leninism? Scholars typically answer these interrelated questions by referencing Korea’s historical legacies, such as Chosŏn period Confucianism, colonial subjugation, and Kim Il Sung’s guerrilla experience. The result is a rather localized understanding of North Korean ideology and its development, according to which North Korean ideology was rooted in native soil and, on the basis of this indigenousness, inevitably developed in contradistinction to Marxism-Leninism. Drawing on Eastern European archival materials and North Korean theoretical journals, the present study challenges our conventional views about North Korean ideology. Throughout the Cold War, North Korea was possessed by a world spirit, a Marxist- Leninist world spirit. Marxism-Leninism was North Korean ideology’s Promethean clay. From ii adherence to Soviet ideological leadership in the 1940s and 50s, to declarations of ideological independence in the 1960s, to the emergence of chuch’e philosophy in the 1970s and 80s, North Korea never severed its ties with the Marxist-Leninist tradition.
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of Political Instability in the DPRK: Identity, Interest, and Leader-Elite Relations
    The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis Vol. 25, No. 1, March 2013, 87–107 An Analysis of Political Instability in the DPRK: Identity, Interest, and Leader-Elite Relations Kim Jina* Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, Seoul, Republic of Korea This study explores answers to such questions as “Why has North Korea been so immune to regime change?” and “What are the leading causes of North Korea’s regime fragility?” It acknowledges that indicators of macroeconomic performance, although they are primary indicators of a successful state, are neither available nor reliable for the study of North Korea’s regime stability. Therefore, this study tries to specify factors affecting the leadership rather than looking at a broad matrix of indicators. This study assumes that it becomes increasingly important for the North Korean leadership to provide privileged benefits to rent-seeking elites for the regime maintenance and hence tries to analyze variables related to change of identity and interests of the North Korean power elites. First, it identifies key variables of North Korea’s stability by reclassifying indicators from the indicator clusters examined in the previous studies. Next, it analyzes factors directly related to the leader-follower relationship in North Korea such as ruling ideology, elite composition, rent-seeking behaviors and opportunity cost of choosing alternative options. Findings of this study reveal many paradoxes in North Korea and suggest that North Korean elites’ support for the Kim Jong Un regime depends on the young new leader’s ability to retain the mechanism of providing benefits to the elites and increasing the opportunity cost of elites’ defection.
    [Show full text]
  • Militaristic Propaganda in the DPRK the Heritage of Songun-Politics in the Rodong-Sinmun Under Kim Jong-Un
    University of Twente Faculty of Behavioural, Management & Social Sciences 1st Supervisor: Dr. Minna van Gerven-Haanpaa Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster Institut für Politikwissenschaft 2nd Supervisor: Björn Goldstein, M.A. Militaristic propaganda in the DPRK The heritage of Songun-Politics in the Rodong-Sinmun under Kim Jong-Un Julian Muhs Matr.- Nr.: 384990 B.A. & B.Sc Schorlemerstraße 4 StudentID; s1610325 Public Administration 48143 Münster (Westf.) (Special Emphasis on European Studies) 004915141901095 [email protected] Date: 21st of September.2015 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................... 3 3.1. North Korean Ideology from Marxism-Leninism to Juche ........................................................... 3 3.2. Press Theory between Marxism-Leninism and Juche .................................................................. 8 3. Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 13 3.1. Selection of Articles .................................................................................................................... 17 4. Analysis: Military propaganda in the Rodong-Sinmun .................................................................. 19 4.1. Category-system
    [Show full text]
  • Building the Nation: the Success and Crisis of Korean Civil Religion
    religions Article Building the Nation: The Success and Crisis of Korean Civil Religion Andrew Eungi Kim 1 and Daniel Connolly 2,* 1 Division of International Studies, Korea University, Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea; [email protected] 2 Division of International Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul 02450, Korea * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Civil religion refers to a country’s beliefs, symbols, and rituals that bolster national unity and strengthen its citizens’ sense of identity and belonging. However, the literature on civil religion is divided between those who attribute it to bottom-up cultural spontaneity and those who see it as an ideological top-down construction. Moreover, there has been a relative lack of scholarly attention to Korean civil religion. This paper addresses both issues by arguing that a strong civil religion indeed exists in the country and that it has been an important part of the “nation-building” process since the founding of the Republic of Korea in 1948. The paper highlights how a succession of authoritarian regimes (1948–1987) successfully mobilized a strong civil religion for political purposes. The resulting civil religion targeted economic growth as the national goal to overcome all social ills, focused on the country’s ethnic and cultural homogeneity to boost national confidence and pride, exalted its traditional religions, especially Confucianism, as repositories of Korean traditional culture, and rendered sacred meanings to national symbols such as the flag and national anthem. Even after democratization, Korean civil religion remains largely ideological, as the Korean government is heavily involved in framing, planning, sponsoring, and promoting the country’s civil religion.
    [Show full text]
  • North Korea Under Kim Il-Sung" (2015)
    Arcadia University ScholarWorks@Arcadia Senior Capstone Theses Undergraduate Research Spring 2015 Cult of Personality: North Korea under Kim Il- Sung Tyler Lutz Arcadia University, [email protected] Arcadia University has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits ouy . Your story matters. Thank you. Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.arcadia.edu/senior_theses Part of the History Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Lutz, Tyler, "Cult of Personality: North Korea under Kim Il-Sung" (2015). Senior Capstone Theses. Paper 10. This Capstone is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Research at ScholarWorks@Arcadia. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Capstone Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@Arcadia. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Tyler Lutz History Senior Seminar Senior Thesis Paper Cult of Personality: North Korea under Kim Il-Sung Lutz 1 North Korea, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or “The Hermit Kingdom” as it is occasionally referred to, is the most isolated country in the world today. Its people have lived under the dictatorial rule of the world’s only dynastic communist regime, that of the Kim family for over half a century. The country is highly militaristic, highly idealistic, and always appears to be on the edge of instigating a new conflict in the region. The country itself is relatively young, having only split from the South immediately following World War II. Up until that point, Korea had been a unified nation for over 1100 years. Their history was for the most part peaceful and stable, until the late 19 th century when increasing pressures from the West and the Japanese forced Korea to open up to the world.
    [Show full text]
  • The Guerrilla Narrative of Kim Il Sung's Works
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by The University of Utah: J. Willard Marriott Digital Library THE GUERRILLA NARRATIVE OF KIM IL SUNG’S WORKS AND REGIME STABILITY IN THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA by AnnMarie Saunders A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Asian Studies College of Humanities The University of Utah August 2015 Copyright © AnnMarie Saunders 2015 All Rights Reserved The University of Utah Graduate School STATEMENT OF THESIS APPROVAL The thesis of AnnMarie Saunders has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: Deberniere Janet Torrey , Chair 04/23/2015 Date Approved Janet M. Theiss , Member 04/23/2015 Date Approved Kirk W. Larsen , Member 04/23/2015 Date Approved and by Janet M. Theiss , Chair/Dean of the Department/College/School of Asian Studies and by David B. Kieda, Dean of The Graduate School. ABSTRACT In The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters, Brian Myers writes that the numerous volumes containing Kim Il Sung’s works are “more often praised than read. [A]t most [they function] as an imposing row of book- spines, a prop in [his] personality cult.” This perspective suggests that the presence of the Works rather than its content is its most important characteristic. I argue that Kim’s works serve a larger function by contributing to the legitimacy narrative the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) constructs about its leader.
    [Show full text]
  • Juche in the United States: the Black Panther Party's Relations with North
    Volume 13 | Issue 13 | Number 3 | Article ID 4303 | Mar 30, 2015 The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Juche in the United States: The Black Panther Party’s Relations with North Korea, 1969-1971 アメリカにおけるチュチェ （主体性）思想 ブラック・パンサー党と北朝鮮、1969-1971 Benjamin Young Third World revolution, and a mutual antagonism toward American intervention around the world. Although the U.S. government forbade its citizens from travelling to North Korea, BPP leader Eldridge Cleaver along with other Panthers bypassed travel restrictions and visited North Korea to join anti-imperialist journalist conferences in 1969 and 1970. In North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Panthers found a new ideology and a government that was critical of the U.S. government. The Panthers established an alliance with North Korean leaders who they recognized as an independent force within the world communist movement. They believed that the "Black colony" inside the United States could learn from the DPRK's self-reliant stance in political, economic, and cultural matters. This study adds to recent scholarship on the global influence of the BPP and opens a new field of inquiry, as the BPP-North Korean relationship has not been analyzed in-depth. Introduction Kim Il Sung, Juche. BPP leader Eldridge Cleaver wrote the introduction for this book, which is now featured While the Cold War is commonly defined as an in the international friendship museum in North ideological war between the forces of Korea. capitalism and communism, frequently ignored within this Manichean view of the conflict are 1 Abstract agents from the Third World.
    [Show full text]
  • North Korea: Unravelling the Hermit Kingdom
    Vivekananda International Foundation North Korea: Unravelling the Hermit Kingdom Issue Brief June 2017 Vol: VII Varun Nambiar North Korea: Unravelling the Hermit Kingdom | 2 About the Author Varun Nambiar is a research intern with the Vivekananda International Foundation in Delhi. He is a soon-to-graduate honours law student at Amity Law School, IP University, Delhi. He has a strong interest in and writes on international relations, including strategic affairs and the region, the law of armed conflicts, and human rights issues. North Korea: Unravelling the Hermit Kingdom | 3 North Korea: Unravelling the Hermit Kingdom North Korea has been the focus of increasing international interest of late. Much of it has been owing to its burgeoning nuclear weapons programme, which has been described by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as having entered a ‘new phase’ following a doubling of its uranium enrichment capacity.i The reclusive north-east Asian nation has coupled its uranium enrichment programme with efforts at bolstering its already significantly advanced long-range strategic ballistic missile programme, fuelling concerns in the West about nightmare scenarios involving nuclear-tipped North Korean missiles raining down on the United States’ Pacific coast.ii The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as it is officially called, has attracted attention not just from those interested in foreign policy or nuclear non- proliferation, but also from those interested in the country purely because of the perception of it being
    [Show full text]
  • Democratic People's Republic of Korea
    Operational Environment & Threat Analysis Volume 10, Issue 1 January - March 2019 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE; DISTRIBUTION IS UNLIMITED OEE Red Diamond published by TRADOC G-2 Operational INSIDE THIS ISSUE Environment & Threat Analysis Directorate, Fort Leavenworth, KS Topic Inquiries: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: Angela Williams (DAC), Branch Chief, Training & Support The Hermit Kingdom .............................................. 3 Jennifer Dunn (DAC), Branch Chief, Analysis & Production OE&TA Staff: North Korea Penny Mellies (DAC) Director, OE&TA Threat Actor Overview ......................................... 11 [email protected] 913-684-7920 MAJ Megan Williams MP LO Jangmadang: Development of a Black [email protected] 913-684-7944 Market-Driven Economy ...................................... 14 WO2 Rob Whalley UK LO [email protected] 913-684-7994 The Nature of The Kim Family Regime: Paula Devers (DAC) Intelligence Specialist The Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State .................. 18 [email protected] 913-684-7907 Laura Deatrick (CTR) Editor Challenges to Engaging North Korea’s [email protected] 913-684-7925 Keith French (CTR) Geospatial Analyst Population through Information Operations .......... 23 [email protected] 913-684-7953 North Korea’s Methods to Counter Angela Williams (DAC) Branch Chief, T&S Enemy Wet Gap Crossings .................................... 26 [email protected] 913-684-7929 John Dalbey (CTR) Military Analyst Summary of “Assessment to Collapse in [email protected] 913-684-7939 TM the DPRK: A NSI Pathways Report” ..................... 28 Jerry England (DAC) Intelligence Specialist [email protected] 913-684-7934 Previous North Korean Red Rick Garcia (CTR) Military Analyst Diamond articles ................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Best of All Possible Countries - Print Document - Proquest
    11/1/11 The best of all possible countries - Print document - ProQuest Back to document The best of all possible countries Kotkin , Stephen. The Washington Post [<span class="hit">Washington</span>, D.C] 28 Feb 2010: .6. Find a copy http://sfx.princeton.edu:9003/sfx_pul?genre=article&sid=ProQ:&atitle=The best of all possible countries&title=The Washington Post&issn=0190-8286&date=2010-02- 28&volume=1&issue=&spage=B.6&au=Kotkin, Stephen Abstract (summary) Can a country the size of Pennsylvania, with one of the world's largest military forces, endure? [...] 1970, North Korea's living standards were higher than capitalist South Korea's, a source of lingering Northern pride. Full Text NOTHING TO ENVY Ordinary Lives in North Korea By Barbara Demick Spiegel & Grau. 314 pp. $26 THE CLEANEST RACE How North Koreans See Themselves -- and Why It Matters By B.R. Myers Melville House. 200 pp. $24.95 "If you look at satellite photographs of the Far East by night, you'll see a large splotch curiously lacking in light," writes Barbara Demick on the first page of "Nothing to Envy." "This area of darkness is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." As a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, Demick discovered that the country isn't illuminated any further by traveling there. So she decided to penetrate North Korea's closed society by interviewing the people who had gotten out, the defectors, with splendid results. Of the hundred North Koreans Demick says she interviewed in South Korea, we meet six: a young kindergarten teacher whose aspirations were blocked by her father's prewar origins in the South ("tainted blood"); a boy of impeccable background who made the leap to university in Pyongyang and whose impossible romance with the kindergarten teacher forms the book's heart; a middle-age factory worker who is a model communist, a mother of four and the book's soul; her daughter; an orphaned young man; and an idealistic female hospital doctor, who looked on helplessly as the young charges in her care died of hunger during the 1996-99 famine.
    [Show full text]