Author Archive

Stable Transition or Fumbling Majesty? : When Kim Jong Un Met the Chinese VP

By | May 14, 2012

SinoNK.com, in collaboration with NK Leadership Watch, is currently concluding a major investigation of North Korea’s relations with China in the last two months of Kim Jong Il’s life.  This process will culminate with the release of a substantial database and analysis, which we are including as third in a series of China-North Korea Dossiers. […]

In My Father’s House There Are Many Bunkers: Assessing the Kim Jong Un Speech

By | May 13, 2012

Kim Jong Un’s pre-centennial speech to the WPK, admonishing the functionaries to hold his grandfather and father — now the eternal General Secretary of the WPK — in high esteem, occurred in what are anything but thriving times.  In North Korea, such behavior is the continuation of an old tradition.[1]  The April 15 speech, analyzed […]

“Hire a North Korean”: Chinese Economic Magazine

By | May 07, 2012

Not long ago in Foreign Policy, Marcus Noland laid into the notion of economic transparency with regard to North Korea.  Where are the facts?  And just what are the data points?  Fortunately, when looking at Chinese side of the equation, we are somewhat less empty-handed, and our frustration is often matched by relative satisfaction at […]

Trope Deconstruction 101: “Iranian Scientists May Attend N. Korean Nuclear Test”

By | May 02, 2012

Trope Deconstruction 101: “Iranian Scientists May Attend N. Korean Nuclear Test” by Adam Cathcart At SinoNK.com, we have previously deconstructed the rumors that a.) North Korea conducted a previously unknown nuclear test in May 2010 and that b.) that alleged test was of an Iranian nuclear weapon.  To put it mildly, the former assertion is […]

Angry Birds in Pyongyang: Dutch Reportage from North Korea

By | May 01, 2012

The relationship between the DPRK and the Netherlands, most recently buttressed by a nice message from Kim Yong Nam on the occasion of Queen’s Day (April 30),  is one of the more interesting of North Korea’s diplomatic ties in Europe.  But what about Dutch writing about North Korea?  What gains might be made from a […]