NK Leadership

Is He or Is He Not? Political Authority, Media Appearance, and the DPRK Leadership Question

By | May 20, 2014

Is Kim Jong-un merely a symbol? Pekka Korhohen, a visiting scholar at Kyoto University, reviews Kim Jong-un’s charismatic leadership in both theory and practice, engaging with assertions that North Korea is not actually ruled over by the Marshal.

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.

Defectors, Nukes, Unification, and the Jang Song-taek Effect: Zhang Liangui Interview

By | April 24, 2014

One of China’s top DPRK experts opens up about his personal experiences with repatriating North Korean defectors, thoughts about nuclear war, Korean reunification, and the impact of Chinese public opinion on the CCP’s North Korea policy. Emile Dirks translates.

Yongusil 31: Kraus, Cumings, Kim, and Cathcart on North Korean Captured Documents

By | April 21, 2014

Study and scholarship focused on North Korea necessarily moves through a historical hinterland. A key panel at this years’ Association of Asian Studies Conference examined the buried, semi-hidden narratives revealed in Record Group 242, the Captured Documents Collection at the US National Archives.

“The Theatre of Farm Fields:” Kim Jong-un and the Subworkteam Leaders

By | March 30, 2014

Kim Jong-un has asserted that “the ideological and spiritual qualities of our agricultural working people have been transformed remarkably.” Robert Winstanley-Chesters investigates.