NK Leadership
Open Questions in the Aftermath of April 15
Open Questions in the Aftermath of April 15 by Adam Cathcart Unlike the DPRK economy, news about North Korea is moving faster than a horse with wings, and it’s easy to feel that the arc of events has overtaken one’s ability to trace everything that is occurring. Consider this series of facts: In the space […]
China’s Headache: Pressure Points on North Korea
Analysts are not cartoonists, nor are they plaintive photographers who can stun us into insight in a single instant. In a media environment where one is often provoked to, in Aidan Foster-Carter’s phrase, “cue the sneer” toward East Asia’s one-party states, the analyst has to plunge ahead anyway with meaningful work. Thus Nick Miller, SinoNK’s […]
Ambassadeurs chinois en Corée du Nord: Sizing Up Chinese Ambassadors in Pyongyang
With the speed of events these past few days overtaking the ability to cover all the necessary ground, we here at SinoNK.com are endeavoring to spread the figurative battlefield further, in the hopes of finally outflanking the topic of Chinese-North Korean relations in this cruel month. Today’s post reprises the last two Chinese ambassadors to […]
China’s Pragmatic Approach to the North Korean Problem: Andrei Lankov on What China Wants
For North Korea watchers and close followers of China’s ties to North Korea, the existence of a “special relationship” between Pyongyang and Beijing practically goes without saying. After all, with the possible exception of Pakistan (more here and here and here), North Korea is the only country with whom China has signed a formal alliance […]
Trees and a Trinity: Environmental Narratives Revised at the Accession of Kim Jong-il
“Trees and a Trinity: Environmental Narratives Revised at the Accession of Kim Jong-il” by Robert Winstanley-Chesters The shenanigans surrounding “the freeze/not the freeze” and controversy connected to the DPRK’s intention for a new satellite launch are an object lesson for anyone still sticking to the maxim of calling a spade, a spade. The DPRK, […]





