Vanadium and Socialism: Rare Earth Prospecting, Politics, and History in North Korea

By | April 28, 2014

Behind every cloud there is a silver lining and behind every developmental story in North Korea there is a narrative from Kim Il-sung. Robert Winstanley-Chesters investigates the pre-history of SRE Minerals’ contemporary Rare-Earth gambit.

Raising a Fiercer Wind: Meetings and Messages

By | February 12, 2014

Robert Winstanley-Chesters examines the scaling and rescaling of important political and narrative messages in 2014 and 1964, including the vital role played by group meetings at different institutional levels.

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.

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.

PLA General on “Incalculable Damage” of North Korea’s Nuclear Program

By | December 20, 2013

If China begins to see itself as the primary victim of North Korea’s nuclear research, then a more confrontational approach toward Pyongyang becomes possible, reveals a new translation by Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga.