AKS 2013-2014
Yongusil 56: Building Domain Consensus Through Narrative
The first Yongusil of 2015 encounters a reconceptualization of the bounds, nature, and possibility of “domain consensus” and its deployment in recent analysis of North Korea in the Review of Korean Studies.
Smile: You’re on North Korean TV
North Korean television occasionally features political “talk shows.” This essay looks at one example, and analyses how the North Korean state manages to modulate its propaganda message.
National Identity and Historical Legacy: Ahn Jung-geun in the Grand Narrative
Take the slow train to Harbin and you’ll arrive right at the locus of fractious Northeast Asian history: the spot where Korean nationalist Ahn Jung-geun killed the first Resident-General of Korea Ito Hirobumi in 1909. With support from an Academy of Korean Studies grant, Steven Denney and Christopher Green try to get behind the national narrative(s).
Public-Private Partners: Rethinking North Korean “Command Criminality”
Sometimes it is possible to forget that among all the narcotics and nuclear weapons, North Korea also engages in licit businesses. Much of it takes place in the country’s near abroad, and during Sino-NK’s recent AKS research trip to Manchuria, Christopher Green took time to think it over.
Bullet Trains and Wood-Burning Trucks
In an effort to cut down travel time and spur economic growth, China is lacing high-speed rail throughout its northeastern provinces. Lessons abound for North Korea, as this essay from eastern Jilin indicates.
Justifying Hereditary Succession in North Korea
Is the succession process to Kim Jong-un complete, or still very much in train? Sino-NK’s chief editor analyzes a recently-unearthed speech by the supreme leader.
Lexicon of Conspiracy: Jang Sung-taek’s Chinese Execution Document
What did Jang Sung-taek really do to merit his summary execution in North Korea? A Chinese version of his death sentence contains multiple clues, including involvement with defections of North Korean youth, according to Adam Cathcart.
Kim Jong-un within Songun Legacy Politics
In part three of an AKS-funded series, Sino-NK describes why a speech in August 2013 forcefully indicated Kim Jong-un’s fixation with Songun politics, the implications of which Jang Sung-taek learned the hard way.
The Value of Pro Forma Ideology: Kim Jong-un as Songun Exponent
In part two of an expansive funded research project, Sino-NK continues its look into the ideological framework of North Korean statecraft. This part also includes an extensive introduction on the relationship between ideology and lived reality.
