Essays
Sino-NK 2013 Rewind: Saegyehwa Politics and South Korea in the Age of Globalization
Steven Denney investigates politics and the political in the ROK during 2013, a new Park era, but the continuation of Saegyehwa/Globalization politics.
Sino-NK 2013 Rewind: The Byungjin Line and North Korea in an Era of Songun Politics
Extensively analyzed on Sino-NK in 2013, for the second of a pair of Sino-NK 2013 Rewind pieces, Peter Ward returns to Byungjin’s source with an investigation of its ur-text, April’s “Nuke and Peace.”
Blind Legacy: Jang Sung-taek and North Korea’s Invisible Cross-Border Bridge
The bridge between Dandong and Sinuiju is pregnant with economic potential, nearly complete, and in a very real sense associated with newly unmasked “counter-revolutionary” Jang Sung-taek. Revisiting a recent essay for The Daily NK, Chief Editor Adam Cathcart investigates.
Sino-NK 2013 Rewind: Sepho and the “Quiet Charisma” of Grassland Reclamation
Robert Winstanley-Chesters kicks off our month of analytical consideration and review, the Sino-NK 2013 Rewind, analysing developmental approach in North Korea during 2013 and the “quiet charisma” of Sepho’s grasslands.
Is North Korea a Rational Actor? The Wrong and Right Questions to Ask
Is North Korea “Bad or Mad?” In her critique of the securitization paradigm, Morgan Potts claims this is the wrong questions to ask. She suggests different, more empathetic questions that aim at “knowing” rather than “othering.”
Armilliara and Sunshine: From Kim Jong-il’s Fungal Diplomacy to the Mushroom Institute of Pyongyang
Robert Winstanley-Chesters follows the trail of North Korean charismatic politics deep into the developmental realm, from fungus’ place under the Sunshine policy to the recently rebuilt Central Mushroom Institute.
Peacemaker or Political Hostage? Prospects for the Moscow-Busan “Iron Silk Road Express”
The promise of profit and increased political stability in Northeast Asia are attractive to Moscow and Seoul, but do the potential benefits of the “Iron Silk Road Express” outweigh the risks that come with investing in North Korea? Sabine van Ameijden evaluates.
Premonitions of a Disaster: Seeds of Ecological Collapse and Germination of Plans for Intensive Industrial Agriculture
In an exciting new essay, the author of the vibrant and informative DPRK Food Policy Blog, Yong Kwon examines issues of food security and seeks out the root causes of North Korea’s failure to feed itself down the years.
Defector Testimonies in a Polarized Society: From Implausible Story to Political Controversy
Nothing looms larger in the rear view mirror of South Korea’s democratic legacy than the South Jeolla Province city of Gwangju and the events that took place there in May 1980. That same democratization narrative was again abused in May 2013, this time along with some defector testimony of a most curious disposition.
