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North Korea Invades the South: Across the 38th Parallel, June 1950 (Cold War, 1945–1991)
by Gerry van TonderWhen the world held its breath It is more than 25 years since the end of the Cold War. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europe with the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Syria, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was Korea Without warning, at 4.00 a.m. on 25 June 1950, North Korean artillery laid down a heavy bombardment on the Ongjin Peninsula, followed four hours later by a massive armored, air, amphibious and infantry breach of the ill-conceived postwar border that was the 38 north line of latitude. At 11.00 a.m., North Korea issued a declaration of war against the Republic of Korea. Three days later, the South Korean capital, Seoul, fell.The attack upon Korea makes it plain beyond all doubt that Communism has passed beyond the use of subversion to conquer independent nations and will now use armed invasion and war. A week after his reaction to the North Korean invasion, US President Harry S. Truman, in compliance with a UN Security Council resolution, appointed that iconic Second World War veteran, General Douglas MacArthur, commander-in-chief of forces in Korea.The first in a six-volume series on the Korean War, this publication considers those first few fateful days in June 1950 that would cement northsouth antagonism to this day, the pariah state that is communist North Korea a seemingly increasing threat to an already tenuous global peace.
North Korea, Iran and the Challenge to International Order: A Comparative Perspective (Routledge Global Security Studies)
by Patrick McEachern Jaclyn O’Brien McEachernThis book examines and compares the political situations in North Korea and Iran, and the contemporary security challenges posed by their illicit nuclear aspirations. While government officials, including a series of American presidents, strategic policy documents and outside analysts have repeatedly noted that North Korea and Iran occupy a similar challenge, the commonality has largely been left unexplored. This book argues that North Korea and Iran are uniquely common in the world today in their illicit nuclear aspirations in violation of their legal commitments made under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The work evaluates alternative arguments, some of which sustain that the two states should be grouped together based on other metrics, such as nuclear powers that sponsor terrorist organizations or nuclear states that violate human rights, and find alternative explanations do not hold up to empirical scrutiny. Drawing on newly declassified documents and Iranian and North Korean sources, the book provides a comprehensive and comparative assessment of the two states’ social, historical, economic, and domestic political structures and situation to make these determinations. Furthermore, it reviews the nuclear issue stemming from Iran and North Korea and the efforts to constrain these programs. The book concludes with specific policy recommendations that apply diplomatic lessons learned from dealing with Iran to North Korea and vice versa. This book will be of interest to students of nuclear proliferation, international security, foreign policy and International Relations.
North Korea Journal
by Michael PalinIn this beautifully illustrated journal based on a TV documentary, writer, comedian and world traveller Michael Palin journeys to North Korea, offering a glimpse of life inside the world's most secretive country, uncovering surprises and making friends along the way.In May 2018, former Monty Python stalwart and intrepid globetrotter Michael Palin ventured into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, camera crew in tow, to gain a glimpse of life in the most notoriously secretive and cut-off nation on earth. His resulting two-part documentary for Channel 5 fascinated millions and won universal plaudits.Now he shares the journal he meticulously kept during his trip, in which he describes his experiences in a country wholly unlike any other he has ever visited: a country where you will find the Tallest Unoccupied Building in the World; where the residents of Pyongyang awake every morning to the strains of 'Where Are You, Dear General?', broadcast from speakers across the city; and where there are fifteen approved styles of haircut. He chronicles a journey of stark contrasts that takes in a gleamingly modern capital complete with triumphal statues and arches one day, and a countryside that has barely changed in decades on another. He travels to the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, to a centuries-old Confucian academy, and to the heart of North Korea's exquisitely beautiful mountains and lakes. He recounts conversations with official guides, teachers, propaganda artists, farmers and soldiers in which mutual incomprehension and shared humanity are constantly intermingled. And he muses on what makes people tick under a regime that to outsiders seems so utterly alien and so grimly authoritarian. Written with Palin's trademark warmth and wit, and illustrated with beautiful colour photographs throughout, Palin's journal offers a rare insight into the North Korea behind the headlines.
North Korea Policy: Japan and the Great Powers (European Institute of Japanese Studies East Asian Economics and Business Series)
by Linus Hagström Marie SöderbergNorth Korea features highly on the agenda of the main actors in East Asia and around the globe, and many large foreign policy initiatives have been undertaken since the structural constraints of the Cold War started to loosen in the early 1990s. The centrality of North Korea has been particularly emphasized by the country's suspected development of nuclear weapons which is regarded as one of the largest de-stabilising factors in the Asia-Pacific region. This comprehensive book analyzes the formation of the North Korea policy in the context of great power relations in East Asia, specifically focusing on Japan's policy formation and 'the Japan factor' in the North Korea policies of other concerned great powers, namely the US, China, Russia, South Korea and the EU. By adopting an empirical focus on the international interaction over North Korea, this book brings together issues that are highly relevant to contemporary Japanese foreign policy; clarifies what is happening in the region right now and plots what policy options are available for the future. Policy-oriented and based on careful empirical analysis, North Korea Policy will appeal to both policy makers and scholars of Asian foreign policy.
North Korea/South Korea: U.S. Policy at a Time of Crisis
by John FefferThe Korean peninsula, divided for more than fifty years, is stuck in a time warp. Millions of troops face one another along the Demilitarized Zone separating communist North Korea and capitalist South Korea. In the early 1990s and again in 2002-2003, the United States and its allies have gone to the brink of war with North Korea. Misinterpretations and misunderstandings are fueling the crisis. "There is no country of comparable significance concerning which so many people are ignorant," American anthropologist Cornelius Osgood said of Korea some time ago. This ignorance may soon have fatal consequences. North Korea, South Korea is a short, accessible book about the history and political complexites of the Korean peninsula, one that explores practical alternatives to the current US policy: alternatives that build on the remarkable and historic path of reconciliation that North and South embarked on in the 1990s and that point the way to eventual reunification.
North Korea under Kim Jong Il: From Consolidation to Systemic Dissonance
by Sung Chull KimNorth Korea has long been a country of mystique, both provoking two nuclear crises and receiving aid from the international community and South Korea in more recent times. North Korea under Kim Jong Il examines how internal changes in North Korea since the early 1970s have structured that nation's apparently provocative nuclear diplomacy and recent economic reform measures. To understand these changes, author Sung Chull Kim uncovers relatively unknown internal aspects of the country under Kim Jong Il's leadership. His account, based on a thorough examination of primary sources, traces the origins, consolidation, and dissonance of North Korea's systemic identity. He reveals how official and unofficial developments in the domains of North Korea's politics, ideology, economics, and intellectual-cultural affairs have brought about system-wide duality, particularly between socialist principles embedded in the official ideology and economic institutions.
North Korea - US Relations: Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un (Routledge Studies in US Foreign Policy)
by Ramon Pacheco PardoHow has North Korea sought to normalize diplomatic relations with the US? Explaining the continuities between the Kim Jong-un and Kim Jong-il governments, as well as the discontinuities, especially the decisive move towards brinkmanship under Kim Jong-un culminating in 2017, this book shows how North Korea has constantly learnt from its own experience and the experience of others to evolve and adapt its policy towards the US. This fully revised and expanded second edition draws on interviews and conversations with American, North and South Korean, Chinese and other countries’ policy-makers and experts and North Korean official media stories. It has been updated to include discussion of the post-2012 period when Kim Jong-un replaced his father to become the leader of North Korea, and provides detailed analysis of both presidencies, concluding with a study of the two bilateral summits held with President Donald Trump. Showing how weaker powers can try to achieve their main foreign policy goals with respect to great powers, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of the international relations of East Asia, US Foreign Policy, Korean Studies and Foreign Policy Analysis. It should also prove relevant to those studying international bargaining and negotiation.
North Korea - US Relations under Kim Jong II: The Quest for Normalization? (Routledge Studies in US Foreign Policy)
by Ramon Pacheco PardoThis book analyses North Korea’s foreign policy towards the United States during the Kim Jong Il era. Throughout these years, North Korea sought but failed to normalise diplomatic relations with the United States. Making use of theories of bargaining and learning in International Relations, the book explains how the inability of the Kim Jong Il government to correctly understand domestic politics in Washington and developments in East Asian international relations contributed to this failure. As a result, Pyongyang accelerated development of nuclear weapons programme with the aim of strengthening its negotiating position with the US. However, towards the end of the Kim Jong Il government it became unclear whether North Korea is willing to reverse its nuclear programme in exchange for normal diplomatic relations with the United States. The book includes material from over 60 interviews with American, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian policy-makers and experts who have dealt with North Korea. It also analyses in detail Pyongyang’s official media articles published during the Kim Jong Il era. This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of US Foreign Policy, Korean Politics and International Relations alike.
The North Korean Army: History, Structure, Daily Life (Routledge Research on Korea)
by Fyodor TertitskiyThis book focuses on the Korean People’s Army (KPA) - the armed forces of North Korea - covering its history, structural organisation and lives of the soldiers and officers within its ranks. Utilising extensive Korean, English, Russian and Chinese language sources, as well as multiple interviews with people who have served in the KPA, this book provides an illuminating insight into the experience of KPA personnel. It presents fascinating and detailed examples of everyday life in the KPA, such as the systems of discipline and reprimands, the experience of women in the army, typical salaries and daily food allowances. The book also succinctly traces the history of the KPA from its foundation under the guidance of the Soviet Union and the experiences of the Korean War, through to the current iteration under Kim Jong-un. This pioneering work will be of huge interest to students and scholars of North Korea, the Cold War, Military Studies and Communism.
North Korean Conundrum, The: Human Rights and Nuclear Security
by Robert R. King and Gi-Wook ShinNorth Korea is consistently identified as one of the world's worst human rights abusers. However, the issue of human rights in North Korea is a complex one, intertwined with issues like life in the North Korean police state, inter-Korean relations, denuclearization, access to information in the North, and international cooperation, to name a few. There are likewise multiple actors involved, including the two Korean governments, the United States, the United Nations, South Korea NGOs, and global human rights organizations. While North Korea's nuclear weapons and the security threat it poses have occupied the center stage and eclipsed other issues in recent years, human rights remain important to U.S. policy. The contributors to The North Korean Conundrum explore how dealing with the issue of human rights is shaped and affected by the political issues with which it is so entwined. Sections discuss the role of the United Nations; how North Koreans' limited access to information is part of the problem, and how this is changing; the relationship between human rights and denuclearization; and North Korean human rights in comparative perspective.
North Korean Human Rights: Activists and Networks
by Andrew Yeo Danielle ChubbThe evidentiary weight of North Korean defectors' testimony depicting crimes against humanity has drawn considerable attention from the international community in recent years. Despite the attention to North Korean human rights, what remains unexamined is the rise of the transnational advocacy network, which drew attention to the issue in the first place. Andrew Yeo and Danielle Chubb explore the 'hard case' that is North Korea and challenge existing conceptions of transnational human rights networks, how they operate, and why they provoke a response from even the most recalcitrant regimes. In this volume, leading experts and activists assemble original data from multiple language sources, including North Korean sources, and adopt a range of sophisticated methodologies to provide valuable insight into the politics, strategy, and policy objectives of North Korean human rights activism.
The North Korean Nuclear Program: Security, Strategy and New Perspectives from Russia
by James Clay Moltz Alexandre Y. MansourovThe contributors discuss Soviet-North Korean nuclear relations, economic and military aspects of the nuclear programme, the nuclear energy sector, North Korea's negotiations with the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, co-operative security, and US policy. Focusing on North Korean attitudes and perspectives, the text also includes Rus
The North Korean Nuclear Weapons Crisis
by Jina KimJina Kim investigates how North Korea rationalized its pursuit of nuclear weapons programs for more than two decades, by exploring the dialectical development of the nuclear crisis and the obstacles generated by complex internal Korean dynamics and conflicting interests amongst the major players concerned.
North Korean Paradoxes
by Kamiljon T. Akramov Charles Jr. WolfAnalyzes economic, political, and security issues associated with Korean unification. Considers how the North Korean system might unravel, leading to possible unification, and what the capital costs of unification would be under differing circumstances and assumptions. Compares points of relevance and nonrelevance between the German experience with unification in the 1990s and what might occur in Korea.
North Korean Reform: Politics, Economics and Security (Adelphi series #382)
by Robert L. Carlin Joel WitIn the past, foreign policy and security concerns have trumped any efforts to reform the North Korean economy. Today, the linkage between security and economic policies is being reconsidered as part of a larger debate in the North Korean leadership that has already transformed the country in fundamental ways. Despite renewed tensions with the United States, North Korea has begun to implement important economic reforms. Moreover, underneath the cover of the ever-present ‘military-first’ slogan in the controlled media, a debate is taking place between ‘reformers’ and ‘conservatives’ over whether Pyongyang’s bloated military industrial complex should be scaled back to help ensure the success of economic reform. Not only do these developments reflect strong political forces in the North Korean leadership that support reform, but they could also have profound implications for the future of Pyongyang’s national security policy. North Korea may decide that it will need a more favourable external security environment in order to secure greater access to international economic and financial assistance for its reform measures and, ultimately, downsizing its military. Pyongyang could launch a new policy of engagement that would include greater flexibility in the Beijing Six Party Talks. A second scenario is continued internal struggle over reform that could lead to an inability to act decisively on key security and foreign policy issues, including at the nuclear talks. Finally, progress in reform may, paradoxically, strengthen conservatives, leading to hopes in Pyongyang that it can improve the economy, while simultaneously maintaining a large powerful military. Whether Washington can do anything at this point to influence directly the emerging debate in Pyongyang is unclear, but a renewed policy of engagement on its part could enhance the chances of success for North Korean advocates of reform.
The North Korean Regime under Kim Jong-un
by Byung-Yeon KimThis edited book is one of the most updated and comprehensive accounts of the North Korean regime under Kim Jong-un’s era. It covers not only nuclear policies but also the political regime, the economy, society, and religion. It sets out to uncover multi-dimensional aspects of North Korea, explains how they have evolved, and predicts how they will proceed. It further investigates the extent to which his policies are different from his father’s and whether and why they have changed during the course. This book will be an invaluable reference for scholars, journalists and NGOs trying to make sense of the present and future of the Korean peninsula.
North Koreans in Japan: Language, Ideology, and Identity (Transitions: Asia and Asian America)
by Sonia Ryang<p>This fascinating ethnography provides unique insights into the history, politics, ideology, and daily life of North Koreans living in Japan. Because Sonia Ryang was raised in this community, she was able to gain unprecedented access and to bring her personal knowledge to bear on this closed society. In addition to providing a valuable view of the experience of ethnic minorities in what is believed to be an implacably homogeneous culture, Ryang offers a rare and precious glimpse into North Korean culture and the transmission of tradition and ideology within it. <p>Through Chongryun, its own umbrella organization, this community directs its commercial, political, social, and educational affairs, including running its own schools and teaching children about North Korea as their fatherland and Kim Il Sung and his son as their leaders. Despite the oppression and ethnic discrimination directed toward the North Korean community, Ryang depicts Koreans not as a persecuted population, but as ordinary residents whose lives are full of complexities. Although they are highly insulated within their community's boundaries, many—especially of the younger generation—are integrated into Japanese society. They are serious about commitments to North Korea yet dedicated to their lives in Japan. Examining these and other complexities, Ryang explores how, over three generations, individuals and the community reconcile such conflicts and cope with changing attitudes and approaches toward Japanese society and Korean culture.</p>
North Korea's Foreign Policy: The DPRK's Part on the International Scene and Its Audiences (Routledge Advances in Korean Studies)
by Lenka CaisovaThis book analyses North Korean foreign policy since 1994, aiming to better understand the part the DPRK plays in international politics. Pyongyang is the country’s capital and largest city. To the north and northwest, the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok and Tumen rivers; it is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone separating the two. Nevertheless, North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. Both North Korea and South Korea became members of the UN in 1991. Applying the role theoretical approach to North Korea for the first time, this book charts the continuities and changes in North Korean foreign policy, drawing on content analysis of North Korean periodicals. It begins with an identification of roles, before analysing the relationship between these roles and foreign policy in practice. In particular, it examines the links between role shifts and changes in interaction with the U.S. and South Korea. This book also demonstrates that the existence of pressure, sanctions and confrontations have contributed to a confrontational, isolationist and inward-looking foreign policy. Therefore, it argues, one should be aware that if the DPRK is constantly treated as if it is a nuclear state – and even a rogue state – it is much easier for it to enact a role on the international stage which reflects this. As a study of the foreign policy of the world’s most controversial and secretive country, this book will be invaluable to students and scholars of Korean politics and international relations, as well as Asian Studies more generally.
North Korea's Foreign Policy under Kim Jong Il: New Perspectives
by Seung-Ho JooThe Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) joined the rank of nuclear powers in October 2006 after exploding its first nuclear device. The test was not fully successful yet it unequivocally demonstrated North Korea's nuclear weapons capability. North Korea under the leadership of Kim Jong-il remains as unpredictable and mysterious as ever. This comprehensive study brings together leading scholars in the field to examine the country's current foreign policy under Kim Jong-il as well as its bilateral relations with the USA, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.
North Korea's Hidden Revolution: How the Information Underground Is Transforming a Closed Society
by Jieun BaekThe story of North Korea's information underground and how it inspires people to seek better lives beyond their country's borders One of the least understood countries in the world, North Korea has long been known for its repressive regime. Yet it is far from being an impenetrable black box. Media flows covertly into the country, and fault lines are appearing in the government's sealed informational borders. Drawing on deeply personal interviews with North Korean defectors from all walks of life, ranging from propaganda artists to diplomats, Jieun Baek tells the story of North Korea's information underground--the network of citizens who take extraordinary risks by circulating illicit content such as foreign films, television shows, soap operas, books, and encyclopedias. By fostering an awareness of life outside North Korea and enhancing cultural knowledge, the materials these citizens disseminate are affecting the social and political consciousness of a people, as well as their everyday lives.
North Korea’s New Diplomacy: Challenging Political Isolation in the Twenty-First Century
by Virginie GrzelczykIn this second edition of North Korea’s New Diplomacy, author Virginie Grzelczyk shows how North Korea has managed to weather an uncertain political future and catastrophic economic system since the end of the Cold War. Emerging as a state that has successfully developed and tested missiles and nuclear weapons, North Korea has consolidated the Kim family dynasty through the appointment of Kim Jong Un as Pyongyang’s latest strongman. The author provides an up-to-date, empirically rich account of new diplomatic recognitions, military partnerships, knowledge trade, coping mechanisms to offset international sanctions, import and export partners, foreign investment practices and engagement within the Global South. With new and updated text throughout, the book gives a detailed picture of a state that constantly becoming a more complex and relevant actor in the 21st century diplomatic world.
North Korea’s Nuclear Decisions and Strategies: Sovereignty, Legitimacy, and the Bomb (Asian Security Studies)
by George A. HutchinsonThis book provides a comprehensive analysis of North Korea’s nuclear strategies and of the decisions which explain its strategic motivations.The existence of two separate Koreas is an accepted outcome of the current international system. However, in today’s emerging multipolar order, the question of Korean legitimacy remains unresolved and South Korea finds itself surrounded by three nuclear powers— China, Russia, and, de facto, North Korea. This book traces North Korea’s nuclear quest across three major epochs: the Cold War, the post-Cold War, and post- September 11 periods. Through these lenses, the book reveals the underlying drivers of North Korea’s nuclear decisions and strategies, providing evidence that North Korea’s nuclear weapons are not only intended to guarantee the survival of the Kim regime but also hold the key for Pyongyang to resolve the lingering question over Korean legitimacy. The book provides evidence, through a longitudinal case study, that North Korea’s nuclear program provides a means to achieve full sovereign control of the Korean Peninsula by exploiting future opportunities in an increasingly multipolar international order.This book will be of interest to students in the fields of foreign policy, defense policy, nuclear proliferation, Korean Studies and International Relations.
North Of The DMZ: Essays On Daily Life In North Korea
by Andrei LankovNorth of the DMZ The Kim dynasty has ruled North Korea for over 60 years. Most of that period has found the country suffering under mature Stalinism characterized by manipulation, brutality and tight social control.
North of Empire: Essays On the Cultural Technologies of Space
by Jody BerlandFor nearly two decades, Jody Berland has been a leading voice in cultural studies and the field of communications. In North of Empire, she brings together and reflects on ten of her pioneering essays. Demonstrating the importance of space to understanding culture, Berland investigates how media technologies have shaped locality, territory, landscape, boundary, nature, music, and time. Her analysis begins with the media landscape of Canada, a country that offers a unique perspective for apprehending the power of media technologies to shape subjectivities and everyday lives, and to render territorial borders both more and less meaningful. Canada is a settler nation and world power often dwarfed by the U. S. cultural juggernaut. It possesses a voluminous archive of inquiry on culture, politics, and the technologies of space. Berland revisits this tradition in the context of a rich interdisciplinary study of contemporary media culture. Berland explores how understandings of space and time, empire and margin, embodiment and technology, and nature and culture are shaped by broadly conceived communications technologies including pianos, radio, television, the Web, and satellite imaging. Along the way, she provides a useful overview of the assumptions driving communications research on both sides of the U. S. -Canadian border, and she highlights the distinctive contributions of the Canadian communication theorists Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan. Berland argues that electronic mediation is central to the construction of social space and therefore to anti-imperialist critique. She illuminates crucial links between how space is traversed, how it is narrated, and how it is used. Making an important contribution to scholarship on globalization, Berland calls for more sophisticated accounts of media and cultural technologies and their complex "geographies of influence. "