Charismatic Environs: From Local Landscape to National Landschaft

By | September 05, 2013

As this sweeping essay illustrates, Kim Jong-un’s obsession with turf and landscape, far from being gratuitous, is in fact part of the North Korean leadership’s art of imbuing the very land of the DPRK with charismatic qualities.

Political and Environmental Organization in North Korea: From Charismatic Politics to Landscapes of Charisma

By | August 22, 2013

Looking at how we might interpret landscapes in an environment of charismatic politics in North Korea, Robert Winstanley-Chesters finds in the work on on the relationship between the politics and the environment a new and useful theory that goes beyond politics, persons, and personhoods. Borne of the politics of charisma is a “landscapes of charisma.”

“Patriotism Begins from Love of Courtyard:” Sepho and the Scaling of the Environmental

By | August 06, 2013

No one covers North Korea’s expressions of the “Byungjin line” with more panache than Robert Winstanley-Chesters, who examines the role of families and local neighborhood units in cultivating North Korean legitimacy.

Cultures of Critique: Kim Jong-un on North Korean Deforestation

By | June 08, 2015

Kim Jong-un’s recent rhetoric lamented the deforestation of the North Korean landscape; Sino-NK assesses the challenges and possibilities for innovation.

Yongusil 24: “Pockets of Efficiency,” Taking a Developmental Approach to North Korea

By | January 17, 2014

Two intriguing Sino-NK related articles on North Korean developmental approach post-Jang have appeared in the venerable BAKS Papers. While one focuses on “pockets of efficiency” and the other on futurological possibility, both are fascinating.