Author Archive
Press Conference as Discursive Battleground: Pyongyang’s Evolving “Double Defector” Propaganda
As the case of the “Laos Nine” reverberates, Brian Gleason examines the motivations and tactics behind Pyongyang’s recent move to place “redefectors” front and center in the public discourse within North Korea itself in the second installment of a two-part series.
Overwhelmed by Guilt: Pyongyang’s Evolving “Double Defector” Propaganda
Brian Gleason shows how instances of double defections are being slyly used by the North Korean regime for propagandistic effect.
Double Defectors: Signifiers of Pyongyang’s Strategic Shift
Are these people spies? Genuine defectors fooled into returning? Or defectors making a rational choice based on their experiences of discrimination in the Republic of Korea? Brian Gleason investigates.
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.
Torture and “Public Security”: Kim Young-hwan’s Captivity and Sino-ROK Relations
Brian Gleason deconstructs the case of one man whose treatment in captivity in Dandong dwells in an unpleasant recess in the façade of Sino-North Korean security cooperation. Intro by Adam Cathcart.
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