She has returned, clad in black, yet her future at the heart of the Kim regime remains an open question. Analyst Nick Miller examines what it would mean for North Korea if Kim Kyong-hui were to disappear.
Economic Policy 
Pedal Primacy: On the Bicycle in Kaesong
Christopher Green discusses the the ubiquitousness of bicycles in the DPRK, the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), expropriation of wage earners at KIC and other joint ventures, and making it in North Korea’s urban areas.
Poor Professors, State Corruption, and the Entrepreneurial Spirit Within the North Korean Economy
At ASAN, Brian Gleason channels testimony from Kim Heung Kwang, a former professor in North Korea and current head of North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, and discussion of state corruption in the DPRK.
Translating Jang Song Taek in Beijing: A Communique Troika
Adam Cathcart tracks down significant divergences in the Chinese and English versions of the public statements released in Beijing after the visit of North Korean leader Jang Song-taek to the Chinese capital.
“Nightmare Investment”: Documenting North Korea’s Abuse of the Haicheng Group
Adam Cathcart documents and analyzes accusations of wholesale North Korean theft from and violence toward their Chinese counterparts in the mining industry.
Chinese Bureaucratic Politics and Sino-North Korean Relations: Dynamics and Implications
Beijing University’s Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga contends that Chinese bureaucratic politics largely drives the direction of the Sino-North Korean relationship.
One Ocean, Two Systems : Drills in the Yellow Sea and China’s Maritime Outlook
For the first time, Korean, Japanese and U.S. Forces conducted a tri-lateral exercise in the Yellow Sea. China released a carefully worded statement emphasizing that the exercises took place “beyond the territorial waters of any country.” Those seven words are… Read More ›
