Military

King, Wu, B-52: North Korea’s Rational Dis-invitation to the US Special Envoy on Human Rights

By | April 13, 2015

This piece of (recent) history by Morgan Potts explores the tensions of the 2013, when Robert King’s invitation to Pyonyang was rescinded, examining what could have been a turning point for US-DPRK relations that was lost amidst other diplomatic crises.

Svoliking in the High Grass: New Approaches to Understanding Authoritarian Regimes

By | September 17, 2014

Steven Denney reviews a few key works on “the politics of authoritarianism,” providing researchers with multiple comparative frameworks for understanding North Korea as authoritarian regime.

The New King’s Hand: Change in the Court of the Great Successor

By | May 06, 2014

A recent reshuffle inside the depths of the Kim regime saw Choe Ryong-hae tumble in the rankings, and Hwang Pyong-so rise further to take his place. As ever, debate is fierce as to why this was. Nick Miller looks back over the evidence now that Choe is back in the public domain.

Framing Epistemic Communities in North Korea: From Fungus to Botanical Gardens

By | January 30, 2014

North Korean developmental praxis relies on epistemic communities and research institutions to achieve its goals. The country’s institutions are not only meta-devices for rolling out in reportage to add a veneer of intellectual legitimacy to centralized dictat, as Robert Winstanley-Chesters reveals in the case of Pyongyang Botanical Gardens.

Sino-NK 2013 Rewind: The Byungjin Line and North Korea in an Era of Songun Politics

By | December 13, 2013

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.”