North Korea: Toward a Better Understanding

We are told, time and again, that North Koreans are loyal to their leader, that they would do anything, even die for him, and that they are fiercely proud and nationalistic. But to an equal extent, we are told that they are oppressed, suffering, and ready to rise against the evil dictator. What do we know beyond or between these opposing assumptions? We are not well equipped with the conceptual tools that could lead us beyond the current securitization of our discourses on North Korea, while undercurrents of regarding North Koreans as less human continue in these discourses.

This volume attempts to multiply the angles from which we can look at North Korea by reassessing the international environment in which it is placed, the process of production of its culture, and the historical paths it has followed. Due to the new approach the volume takes, reading these pages will be an eye-opening experience not only for experts, but also for lay readers and anyone interested in peace keeping in Korea, Northeast Asia, and beyond.

Source: publisher’s website

Table of Contents

Introduction. North Korea: Going Beyond Security and Enemy Rhetoric / Sonia Ryang

1. North Korea and the Birth Pangs of a New Northeast Asian Order / Gavan McCormack
2. Socialism, Sovereignty, and the North Korean Exception / Charles K. Armstrong
3. Biopolitics or the Logic of Sovereign Love – Love’s Whereabouts in North Korea / Sonia Ryang
4. The Split Screen: Sin Sang-ok in North Korea / Steven Chung
5. The Politics of Unification and Neoliberal Democracy: Economic Cooperation and North Korean Human Rights / Hyun Ok Park
6. Refugees, Abductees, “Returnees”: Human Rights in Japan-North Korea Relations / Tessa Morris-Suzuki