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This deeply knowledgeable 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.
This unique book, now fully updated, provides a comprehensive
overview of all aspects of life in North Korea today. Drawing on
decades of experience, noted experts Ralph Hassig and Kongdan Oh
explore a world few outsiders can imagine. In vivid detail, the
authors describe how the secretive and authoritarian government of
Kim Jong-un shapes every aspect of its citizens' lives, how the
command socialist economy has utterly failed, and how ordinary
individuals struggle to survive through small-scale capitalism.
Weighing the very limited individual rights allowed, the authors
illustrate how the political class system and the legal system
serve solely as tools of the regime. The key to understanding how
the North Korean people live, the authors argue, is to realize that
their only allowed role is to support Kim Jong-un, whose
grandfather founded the country in the late 1940s. Still a cypher,
Kim Jong-un, as did his father before him, controls his people by
keeping them isolated and banning most foreigners. North Koreans
remain hungry and oppressed, yet the outside world is slowly
filtering in, and the book concludes by urging the United States to
flood North Korea with information so that its people can make
decisions based on truth rather than their dictator's ubiquitous
propaganda.
This unique book, now fully updated, provides a comprehensive
overview of all aspects of life in North Korea today. Drawing on
decades of experience, noted experts Ralph Hassig and Kongdan Oh
explore a world few outsiders can imagine. In vivid detail, the
authors describe how the secretive and authoritarian government of
Kim Jong-un shapes every aspect of its citizens' lives, how the
command socialist economy has utterly failed, and how ordinary
individuals struggle to survive through small-scale capitalism.
Weighing the very limited individual rights allowed, the authors
illustrate how the political class system and the legal system
serve solely as tools of the regime. The key to understanding how
the North Korean people live, the authors argue, is to realize that
their only allowed role is to support Kim Jong-un, whose
grandfather founded the country in the late 1940s. Still a cypher,
Kim Jong-un, as did his father before him, controls his people by
keeping them isolated and banning most foreigners. North Koreans
remain hungry and oppressed, yet the outside world is slowly
filtering in, and the book concludes by urging the United States to
flood North Korea with information so that its people can make
decisions based on truth rather than their dictator's ubiquitous
propaganda.
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