A compelling examination of North Korea’s elites, their hidden discontent, and the role they may play in shaping the regime’s future Jieun Baek’s second book on North Korea is a deeply researched and sharply analytical account of the grievances harbored by the country’s elite. Drawing on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with escapees from … [Read More]
Booklist: North Korea
Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea’s Personality Cult
A landmark history of North Korea, told through the rise of the Kim dynasty and its surprising ties to American Christianity—a spectacular, penetrating account of a world like no other North Korea. The Hermit Kingdom. For nearly eight decades, it has marched defiantly to its own beat, shaking off its Soviet and Chinese sponsors to … [Read More]
A Nation Within: North Korean Zainichi in Postimperial Japan
The presence of hundreds of thousands ethnic Koreans in Japan, or “zainichi Koreans,” is one of the visible legacies of Japanese colonialism. A surprising and influential group among zainichi Koreans that persists to this day is Chongryon, the only pro–North Korean diasporic group based in a capitalist society. Chongryon historically represented the central grassroots force … [Read More]
Pyongyang on the Brink: Sixteen Crises That Shaped North Korea
A briskly written primer on the North Korean decisions, foreign interventions and accidents of fate which have both threatened and, ultimately, preserved the country’s dictatorship. This nimble tour through North Korea’s history revisits sixteen knife-edge moments when collapse, reform or war nearly shattered the Kim dynasty. Structured in four acts—from the peninsula’s partition in 1945 … [Read More]
I was a North Korean Diplomat: Inside the Secret World of Pyongyang’s Foreign Service
What Does the North Korean System Look Like from the Inside? Han Jin-myung served for years within the North Korean state apparatus before leaving the regime in January 2015. Although more than a decade has passed since his departure, the fundamental structures of power in Pyongyang remain largely unchanged. His testimony therefore offers a rare … [Read More]
North Korea: A History (revised ed)
North Korea is perhaps the most intriguing, infamous and enigmatic nation of our modern world. Yet how many of us know its full history, and how it came to be? How can we understand such a strange, isolated state? This new edition seeks to provide some answers to these questions. Starting with its origins in the … [Read More]
Cold War Comrades: An Emotional History of the Sino-North Korean Alliance
In this major new interpretation of Sino-North Korean relations, Gregg A. Brazinsky argues that neither the PRC nor the DPRK would have survived as socialist states without the ideal of Sino-North Korean friendship. Chinese and North Korean leaders encouraged mutual empathy and sentimental attachments between their citizens and then used these emotions to strengthen popular … [Read More]
Fallout: The Inside Story of America’s Failure to Disarm North Korea
A behind-the-scenes look into US efforts to contain North Korea’s nuclear capabilities and why they have not worked For almost four decades, the United States has tried to halt North Korea’s march to build nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them. Joel S. Wit, a former State Department official, takes readers to the front … [Read More]
The Courage To Die: A North Korean Woman’s Escape and Rebirth in Freedom
The Courage to Die is the powerful true story of Eunhee Park, the child of divorced parents and a mother lost to mental illness, who endured years of hunger and indoctrination in a North Korean orphanage where survival meant silence. Raised by her disabled grandfather and strong-willed grandmother, Eunhee faced abandonment, loss, and the rigid control of … [Read More]
Brutal Fantasies: Imagining North Korea in the Long Cold War
In Brutal Fantasies, Christine Kim examines how Western cultural representations of North Korea depend on fantasies of the inhuman. Drawing on films, fiction, and defectors’ life writings from the last two decades, Kim analyzes how these representations construct North Korea as a site of brutality and inhumanity. She recasts these stories through Asian American and … [Read More]
Forever President: A Biography of Kim Il Sung
Pieces together the rise, achievements, and failures of North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung. Kim Il Sung ruled his country, North Korea, for longer and shaped it more profoundly than almost any other modern leader. He created a unique and seemingly bizarre and menacing political and social system, establishing a dynasty that has maintained it … [Read More]
1966 And All That: The Story of North Korea’s Greatest Football Team
1966 And All That: The Story of North Korea’s Greatest Football Team is a captivating and meticulously researched exploration of one of football’s most unexpected and legendary World Cup stories. In this unique work, Kenneth Knight brings to life the incredible rise of the North Korean team that stunned the world in 1966, not merely … [Read More]
Rebranding North Korea: Changes in Consumer Culture and Visual Media
“Everything for the people, everything according to the people!” —Kim Jong Un Under Kim Jong Un, North Korea has undertaken significant efforts to elevate the standard of living for its citizens. This shift has led to notable advancements in production and the quality of visual media, teaching North Koreans the “language” of consumerism and new … [Read More]
One Meal, One Memory: The Taste of Survival in North Korean Cuisine
One Meal, One Memory: The Taste of Survival in North Korean Cuisine. In North Korea, food is complicated. For Ae Ran Lee, it’s life and death, pain and comfort, guilt and hope. Born into privilege in Pyongyang, Lee’s idyllic childhood ended abruptly when her family was exiled to a remote village, plunging them into unimaginable … [Read More]
Rogue Allies: The Strategic Partnership between Iran and North Korea
In Rogue Allies: The Strategic Partnership between Iran and North Korea, Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. and Anthony N. Celso examine the influence of two rogue states whose rebellion against the United States and US-backed countries has serious consequences for international relations. Iran and North Korea have profited from illegal activities, such as the arming of terrorist … [Read More]
Accidental Tyrant: The Life of Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung was the enigmatic architect of North Korea. His life is an extraordinary tale of improbable success: once a barely educated guerrilla fighter, he rose to lead the nation at the young age of 33. Against all odds, he established a horrifyingly stable dictatorial regime, one that still struggles to provide for its people, … [Read More]