Download or read book A Socioeconomic History of North Korea written by Daniel Schwekendiek and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even as its rise as a nuclear power unfolds on the nightly news, North Korea remains arguably the most mysterious country in the world. A virtual blackout of statistical information coming from the reclusive regime has shrouded the day-to-day lives of its inhabitants in secrecy. This groundbreaking study--which relies on rare U.N.-assisted household data and carefully scrutinized propaganda materials--offers the first comprehensive examination of the social and economic history of North Korea from its founding in 1948 to the present day. Included are a chronicle of the political formation of the two Koreas, an exploration of the social aspects of life in North Korea, a discussion of the country's economic structure and development, and cutting-edge anthropometric analysis that reveals how life in seclusion has affected the physical development of North Koreans. A concluding socioeconomic forecast predicts what lies ahead for the "hermit kingdom." Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Download or read book North Korea written by Heonik Kwon and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2012-03-12 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely, pathbreaking study of North Korea’s political history and culture sheds invaluable light on the country’s unique leadership continuity and succession. Leading scholars Heonik Kwon and Byung-Ho Chung begin by tracing Kim Il Sung’s rise to power during the Cold War. They show how his successor, his eldest son, Kim Jong Il, sponsored the production of revolutionary art to unleash a public political culture that would consolidate Kim’s charismatic power and his own hereditary authority. The result was the birth of a powerful modern theater state that sustains North Korean leaders’ sovereignty now to a third generation. In defiance of the instability to which so many revolutionary states eventually succumb, the durability of charismatic politics in North Korea defines its exceptional place in modern history. Kwon and Chung make an innovative contribution to comparative socialism and postsocialism as well as to the anthropology of the state. Their pioneering work is essential for all readers interested in understanding North Korea’s past and future, the destiny of charismatic power in modern politics, the role of art in enabling this power.

Download or read book Understanding North Korea written by Institute for Unification Education, Ministry of Unification (South Korea) and published by 길잡이미디어. This book was released on 2015-01-30 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Institute for Unification Education, which constitutes the Ministry of Unification of the Republic of Korea, has published annual editions of Understanding North Korea since 1972, as an endeavor to promote greater understanding of North Korea for South Korean readers. Understanding North Korea depicts the reality faced by the Northern regime in areas of politics, diplomacy, military, economy, society, culture, and many more. The May 2012 publication has been translated into English, with the aim to help the international community better understand the northern half of the Korean peninsula. English translations of the referred editions will be published on an biennial basis. We hope that this book enables readers around the world to better grasp the reality of North Korea. The regime in North Korea exhibits three characteristics: it is a totalitarian dictatorship governed by the sole leadership of the suryǒng , who stands above the Workers’Party of Korea (WPK) and the state; the regime, as one of the world’s most highly centralized and planned economies, has advocated self-reliance and the monopoly of all means of production by the state and cooperative organizations; and the state uses the concept of Grand Socialist Family which requires absolute obedience of people to the suryǒng , who is considered the father of a family. These traits engendered a peculiar form of social structure unprecedented in any other socialist country. As it had to do under Kim Jong-il, North Korea under Kim Jong-un must engage in some degree of reform and opening to improve its economy and ensure the regime’s survival. Such a path, however, also brings with it the risk of regime collapse. The regime thus faces the difficult task of maintaining stability while at the same time reforming and opening up. CONTENTS I. How should we view North Korea? Section 1. Nature of the Northern Regime 11 Section 2. North Korea’s Dilemma 18 Ⅱ. Political System and Governing Principles Section 1. History of the North Korean Regime and Establishment of its Political System 25 1. Soviet Occupation and Establishment of the North Korean Regime 25 2. Establishment of North Korea’s Political System and its Characteristics 28 Section 2. Formation of Governing Ideology and its Changing Nature 36 1. Juche Ideology 37 2. Songun Ideology 42 3. Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism 46 Section 3. Power Structure and Form of Government 49 1. Power structure 49 2. Workers’Party of Korea 55 3. Central Institutions 71 Section 4. Hereditary Succession of Power and the Kim Jong-un Regime 80 1. History of Hereditary Power Succession 80 2. Establishment and Stabilization of the Kim Jong-un Regime 86 Ⅲ. External Policies and Relations Section 1. Goals and Directions of Foreign Policies 97 1. Basic Ideas and Goals of Foreign Policy 97 2. Policy Directions 99 3. North Korea’s Foreign Policy-making Structure 102 Section 2. Changes in Foreign Policy 105 1. Foreign Policy during the Cold War Era 105 2. Foreign Policy after the Cold War Era 111 Section 3. Foreign Relations 117 1. US-North Korea Relations 117 2. China-North Korea Relations 127 3. Japan-North Korea Relations 132 4. Russia-North Korea Relations 137 5. Relations with the EU and Other Nations 141 Ⅳ. Military Strategy and Capacity Section 1. Characteristics and Functions 153 1. Establishment of the KPA 153 2. Nature and Status 155 3. Functions and Characteristics 156 Section 2. Military Policy and Strategy 160 1. Basic Objective 160 2. Military Strategy 163 Section 3. Structure and Institutions 168 1. Military Structure 168 2. Military Institutions 173 Section 4. Military Capacity 179 1. Standing Forces and Equipment 179 2. Reserve Forces 185 3. Development of Nuclear and Other Strategic Weapons 187 Section 5. Military Relations and Provocations against the South 194 1. External Military Relationship 194 2. North Korea’s Provocations against the South 199 Ⅴ. Economic Structure and Policy Section 1. Characteristics of Economic System and Basic Economic Policy 217 1. Basic Characteristics of Economic System 217 2. Basic Economic Policy 225 3. Establishment and Implementation of Economic Plans 234 Section 2. Economic Status by Sector 238 1. Macroeconomic Status and Tasks 238 2. Economic Status and Tasks by Sector 244 Section 3. Changes in Economic Policy and Outlook for Reform and Opening 259 1. Utilization and Control of Markets 259 2. Limited Opening 268 3. Prospects and Tasks for Reform and Opening 274 Ⅵ. Education and Culture Section 1. Education System and School Life 281 1. Education Policy and School System 281 2. Educational Curriculum and Methods 299 3. School Life 308 Section 2. Literary Art Policy and Current Status 314 1. Literary Art Policy 314 2. Current Status of Literature and Art 321 Section 3. The Media and its Functions 334 1. Newspapers 335 2. Broadcasting 340 VII Society and Life Section 1. Class Structure 349 1. Social Classes 349 2. Social Mobility and Class Structure 353 Section 2. Value System and Everyday Life 356 1. North Korean Citizens’Values 356 2. Daily Life and Life Cycle 362 3. Organizational Life 366 4. Clothing, Food, and Housing 373 5. Leisure and Holidays 380 Section 3. Religion in North Korea 386 1. View on Religion 386 2. Actual Conditions of Religious Beliefs 388 Section 4. Deviations and Social Control 391 1. Social Deviation and Crime committed by North Koreans 391 2. Social Control 398 Section 5. Human Rights in North Korea 404 1. Violation of Civic and Political Rights 405 2. Violation of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights 410 3. Response to Criticism on Human Rights 413

Download or read book North Korea in Transition written by Kyung-Ae Park and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2013 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the death of Kim Jong Il, North Korea has entered a period of profound transformation laden with uncertainty. This authoritative book brings together the world's leading North Korea experts to analyze both the challenges and prospects the country is facing. Drawing on the contributors' expertise across a range of disciplines, the book examines North Korea's political, economic, social, and foreign policy concerns. Considering the implications for Pyongyang's transition, it focuses especially on the transformation of ideology, the Worker's Party of Korea, the military, effects of the Arab Spring, the emerging merchant class, cultural infiltration from the South, Western aid, and global economic integration. The contributors also assess the impact of North Korea's new policies on China, South Korea, the United States, and the rest of the world. Comprehensive and deeply knowledgeable, their analysis is especially crucial given the power consolidation efforts of the new leadership underway in Pyongyang and the implications for both domestic and international politics. Contributions by: Nicholas Anderson, Charles Armstrong, Bradley Babson, Victor Cha, Bruce Cumings, Nicholas Eberstadt, Ken Gause, David Kang, Andrei Lankov, Woo Young Lee, Liu Ming, Haksoon Paik, Kyung-Ae Park, Terence Roehrig, Jungmin Seo, and Scott Snyder.

Download or read book North Korea written by Hy-Sang Lee and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2000-11-30 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As perennial famine and material shortages call into question the tenability of North Korea's military-authoritarian government, the international community has struggled to reconcile contradictory humanitarian, economic, and political goals in formulating foreign policy and aid responses to the secretive Pyongyang regime. In a historical analysis drawing heavily on primary sources, Lee attacks the problem at its root: the assumption of policy-makers that Pyongyang's belligerence and intractability is an attempt to secure autonomy and national legitimacy in the eyes of the world. Rather, Lee argues, close review of the available evidence demonstrates convincingly that forced reunification with South Korea is the only discernible goal of the Pyongyang government, and that the key strategy of the reunification program is a war of attrition against the U.S. military presence in the South. Lee begins with a summary history, and moves on to examine the formation of the North Korean communist state in the wake of World War II. The implementation of state programs in the 1950s and 1960s follows, including the drive towards industrialization, the emergence of the Juche ideology, and collectivization of agriculture. Remaining chapters focus on the recent history of North Korea, and offer concluding analysis and remarks.

Download or read book Unveiling the North Korean Economy written by Byung-Yeon Kim and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-27 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: North Korea is one of the most closed and secretive societies in the world. Despite a high level of interest from the outside world, we have very little detailed information about how the country functions economically. In this valuable book for both the academic and policy-making circles, Byung-Yeon Kim offers the most comprehensive and systematic analysis of the present day North Korean economy in the context of economic systems and transition economics. It addresses what is really happening in the North Korean economy, why it has previously failed, and how the country can make the transition to a market economy. It takes advantage not only of carefully reconstructed macro data but also rich, new data at the micro level, such as quantitative surveys of North Korean refugees settled in South Korea, and the surveys of Chinese companies that interact heavily with North Korea.

Download or read book Origins of North Korea s Juche written by Chae-jŏng Sŏ and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2013 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over five decades, North Korea has outlived many forecasts of collapse despite defects in its system. Origins of North Korea's Juche: Colonialism, War, and Development, edited by Jae-Jung Suh, argues that it has survived because of Juche, a unique political institution built on the simple notion of self-determination, whose meanings and limits have been shaped by Koreans' experiences with colonialism, war, and development amidst surrounding superpowers that have complicated their aspirations and plans. The authors in this volume collectively provide an historical institutionalist account of North Korean politics organized around the concept of Juche--commonly translated as self-reliance, but best understood as subjecthood or being a master of one's own fate--focusing on its role as a response to North Korea's experiences with colonialism, the Korean War, and economic development. The contributors further discuss how Juche circumscribes the evolutionary path that North Koreans can take as they negotiate contemporary challenges. North Korea, as it is now, is best understood in terms of Juche which embodies the cumulative effect of its historical experiences and responses, and its future potential and trajectory, as enabled and constrained by its conception of Juche. This collection provides fascinating insights into the politics and history of one of the world's most mysterious nations.

Download or read book Economic Sanctions Against a Nuclear North Korea written by Suk Hi Kim and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2007-08-16 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: United States economic sanctions against North Korea began on June 28, 1950, three days after the outbreak of the Korean War. Since then, the United States, its allies, and the United Nations have increasingly imposed economic sanctions against North Korea in an attempt to destabilize and manipulate the North Korean regime. This book first provides a thorough historical overview of U.S. and U.N. sanctions against North Korea since 1950. Then, several essays propose ways to make such sanctions more politically effective while limiting their harmful humanitarian consequences. Finally, the book discusses the impact of the newest, six-nation agreement signed in February 2007 which would shut down North Korea's nuclear facility in return for economic aid and a security guarantee. Several appendices provide brief guides to the history of North Korea and the country's nuclear weapons program.

Download or read book Politics in North and South Korea written by Yangmo Ku and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-12-06 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Politics in North and South Korea provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the political dynamics of the two Koreas. Giving equal weight to North and South Korea, the authors trace the history of political and economic development and international relations of the Korean peninsula, showing how South Korea became democratized and how Juche ideology has affected the establishment and operation of a totalitarian system in North Korea. Written in a straightforward, jargon free manner, this textbook utilizes both historical-institutional approaches and quantitative evidence to analyse the political dimensions of a wide variety of issues including: Legacies of early-twentieth-century Japanese colonial rule South Korean democratization and democratic consolidation South Korean diplomacy and North Korean nuclear crises The economic development of both North and South Korea The three-generation power succession in North Korea North Korean human rights issues Inter-Korean relations and reunification This textbook will be essential reading for students of Korean Politics and is also suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on East Asian Politics, Asian Studies, and International Relations.

Download or read book North Korea in a Nutshell written by Kongdan Oh and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-06-11 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore North Korea, one of the most secretive countries in the world. This thoughtful book provides a concise introduction to North Korea. Two leading experts, Kongdan Oh and Ralph Hassig, trace the country’s history from its founding in 1948 and describe the many facets of its political, economic, social, and cultural life. The authors illuminate a hidden nation dominated by three generations of the secretive Kim regime, a family dynasty more suited to the Middle Ages than the contemporary era. North Korea has a robust if outmoded military force, including a growing arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, to deter and defend against foreign attacks and to maintain independence and isolation from the rest of the world. The struggling economy, disconnected from the global marketplace, operates under harsh international sanctions. All North Koreans, from the highest party cadres to the youngest children living in prison camps, are essentially servants of the leader. Despite Kim Jong-un’s despotic control, the authors argue that North Korea cannot continue on its current path indefinitely. Kim treats even his closest associates harshly, and the gap is widening between his elite supporters, numbering a million or so, and the other twenty-four million North Koreans. The economic and technological gap between South Korea and North Korea is increasing as well, and younger people are becoming disenchanted as they gradually learn more about the outside world.

Download or read book South Korea written by Daniel J. Schwekendiek and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the second half of the twentieth century, an economic boom, driven by advances in technology, has led South Korea to become the world's fastest growing economy. But, there were also social factors associated with this shift. In this book, Daniel J. Schwekendiek examines South Korea's socioeconomic evolution since the 1940s.After a brief introduction to Korean history from the late Joseon Dynasty to the division of the Korean peninsula into two occupied zones in 1945, the focus of the book shifts to the rapid socioeconomic development and change that took place in South Korea in the twentieth century. Topics covered include demography, rural-urban development, economic planning, and international trade, in addition to lower and higher education. Important, but understudied areas, such as social capital, nutritional improvements, the rise of capitalist consumerism, and recent nation branding issues, are also addressed.Rarely has a resource incorporated such unique macro-historical perspectives of South Korea, especially in the context of social development. Throughout the book, the author corroborates historical events with empirical data. With over one hundred figures and illustrations, suggested readings at the end of each chapter, and comparisons with North Korea, South Korea will be a crucial reference work for scholars and advanced students in Korean and East Asian Studies.

Download or read book North Korea written by Ian Jeffries and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is much intense interest in North Korea at present. This partly arises from questions about Korea's nuclear capability and intentions, and about the extent to which North Korea may be viewed as 'a rogue state' or part of 'the axis of evil'. In addition, however, North Korea has recently begun experimenting with reforms along Chinese lines. The vigour with which these will be pursued, and related questions about the degree of engagement, or otherwise, with South Korea are also important issues. This book provides full details of economic and political developments in North Korea since 1989 when the communist world began to change irrevocably.

Download or read book North Korea in the New World Order written by Kevin Magill and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-07-27 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers several perspectives on the contemporary position of North Korea. It examines, in the context of the post-Cold War order, US, European Union and British foreign policy to North Korea, and North Korean responses. It investigates the tensions that could develop in North Korean state and society as the country faces an increasingly market-oriented capitalist world and identifies the historical, political and ideological foundations of North Korean society and culture. The book is the work of a multidisciplinary team of scholars from Britain and the United States who work in the fields of anthropology, economics, history, international relations, social geography and sociology, most of whom have conducted first-hand research in North Korea. The book also contains contributions from policy-makers who have helped to form western policy towards North Korea.

Download or read book Nation Building in South Korea written by Gregg Brazinsky and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2009-09-14 with total page 590 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brazinsky explains why South Korea was one of the few postcolonial nations that achieved rapid economic development and democratization by the end of the twentieth century. He contends that a distinctive combination of American initiatives and Korean agency enabled South Korea's stunning transformation. Expanding the framework of traditional diplomatic history, Brazinsky examines not only state-to-state relations, but also the social and cultural interactions between Americans and South Koreans. He shows how Koreans adapted, resisted, and transformed American influence and promoted socioeconomic change that suited their own aspirations. Ultimately, Brazinsky argues, Koreans' capacity to tailor American institutions and ideas to their own purposes was the most important factor in the making of a democratic South Korea.

Download or read book North Korea A Country Study written by Robert L. Worden and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2011-04-21 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NOTE: NO FURTHER DISCOUNT FOR THIS PRINT PRODUCT--OVERSTOCK SALE -- Significantly reduced list price This edition of North Korea: A Country Study replaces the previous edition, published in 1994. Like its predecessor, this study attempts to review the history and treat in a concise manner the dominant social, political, economic, and military aspects of contemporary North Korea. Sources of information included books, scholarly journals, foreign and domestic newspapers, official reports of governments and international organizations, and numerous periodicals and Web sites on Korean and East Asian affairs. A word of caution is necessary, however. Even though more information is forthcoming from and about North Korea since it became a member of the United Nations in 1991, the government of a closed society such as that of North Korea controls information for internal and external consumption, limiting both the scope of coverage and its dissemination. A chronology of major historical events is provided at the front of the book (see table A). Chapter bibliographies appear at the end of the book, and brief comments on some of the more valuable and enduring sources recommended for further reading appear at the end of each chapter. A glossary also is included. Spellings of place-names in the book are in most cases those approved by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN); spellings of some of the names, however, cannot be verified, as the BGN itself notes. Readers of this book are alerted that because the BGN recognizes the Sea of Japan as the formal name of the body of water to the east of the Korean Peninsula, this book also uses that term.. Similarly, the Yellow Sea is identified as the West Sea. The McCune–Reischauer system of transliteration has been employed except for the names of some prominent national and historical figures. Thus, Kim Il-song is rendered as Kim Il Sung, and Kim Chong-il is rendered as Kim Jong Il. The names of Korean authors writing in English are spelled as given in the original publication. Measurements are given in the metric system. A conversion table (see table B) is provided to assist readers who are unfamiliar with metric measurements. Other related items: Foreign Countries collection can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/international-foreign-affairs/foreign-country-studies The body of the text reflects information available as of August 1, 2007. Certain other parts of the text, however, have been updated: the Chronology and Introduction discuss significant events that have occurred since the completion of research, and the Country Profile and portions of some chapters include updated information as available.

Download or read book North Korea under Kim Jong Il written by Sung Chull Kim and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-16 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: North Korea has long been a country of mystique, both provoking two nuclear crises and receiving aid from the international community and South Korea in more recent times. North Korea under Kim Jong Il examines how internal changes in North Korea since the early 1970s have structured that nation's apparently provocative nuclear diplomacy and recent economic reform measures. To understand these changes, author Sung Chull Kim uncovers relatively unknown internal aspects of the country under Kim Jong Il's leadership. His account, based on a thorough examination of primary sources, traces the origins, consolidation, and dissonance of North Korea's systemic identity. He reveals how official and unofficial developments in the domains of North Korea's politics, ideology, economics, and intellectual-cultural affairs have brought about system-wide duality, particularly between socialist principles embedded in the official ideology and economic institutions.

Download or read book North Korea and the Geopolitics of Development written by Kevin Gray and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-15 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gray and Lee focus on three geopolitical 'moments' that have been crucial to the shaping of the North Korean system: colonialism, the Cold War, and the rise of China, to examine how the emergence and subsequent development of the North Korean political economy was fundamentally shaped by broader processes of geopolitical contestation.