Sino-NK

Wreath-laying at Friendship Tower in Pyongyang, October 25, 2013 | Image: KCNA

In our efforts to provide deeper analysis of source documents, Sino-NK offers “Tongsin” (통신): source data on the DPRK’s view on China through the lenses of Rodong Sinmun and the KCNA.

While the Chinese perspective on North Korea garners much attention (and rightly so), the North Korean perspective on China remains under-examined. It is taken as granted that Pyongyang relies on Beijing, and the more delicate aspects of this relationship are ignored: for instance, that North Korea has been routinely let down by its Sino and Soviet/Russian allies and is therefore weary of both actual and domestically perceived dependence on China.

Sino-NK has previously examined DPRK state media in the KCNA Files (active from December 2011 – February 2013, now archived) and Tongsin is a natural progression as it includes KCNA analysis as before, and introduces content from Rodong Sinmun.

In this debut issue of Tongsin, Sino-NK explores October–December 2013, the months leading up the Jang Song-taek’s execution:

Tongsin no. 01, October-December 2013