Reviews

Dual Perspective: Reading Thae Yong-ho

By | August 15, 2018

Thae Yong-ho’s memoir marks a bold attempt to push back the tide of South Korean public ambivalence toward North Korea, a sprawling 500-page narrative of his experiences in the DPRK diplomatic corps over twenty years and ending with his 2016 defection. Robert Lauler takes a look at this essential, if flawed, text.

Reading North Korea by Chosun: A Roundtable Review

By | June 11, 2018

The study of North Korea, much like the country itself, is neither static or unchanging. Sino-NK reviews a recent addition to the canon: Kim Byeongro’s “Reading North Korea by Chosun” (2016).

Imagining a Sino-US Conflict: Review of Kim Jin-myung’s Novel “US-China War”

By | March 05, 2018

South Korean novelist Kim Jin-myung released the behemoth “US-China War” in December last year. Kim controversially alleges that Washington’s strategic goal may not “merely” be the demolition of the DPRK, but crossing the Yalu to destroy the rising China, too. Robert Lauler reviews this pertinent and testy work of political fiction.

A Roundtable Review of Hard Target: Sanctions, Inducements, and the Case of North Korea

By | January 15, 2018

In their new book, Hard Target, Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland concentrate on the nature and underlying factors influencing the effectiveness of sanctions against North Korea; Sino-NK has concentrated on convening a roundtable to review it.

Unveiling the North Korean Economy: A Roundtable Review

By | November 06, 2017

In this roundtable review, we take a magnifying glass to Unveiling the North Korean Economy by Kim Byung-yeon, to see whether the English language finally has the book on the North Korean economy that it needs.