North Korea
조선민주주의인민공화국
North Korea's Tough Strategic Decisions
Steven Kim, East Asia Forum
A Post-American World? Not Quite
Victor Davis Hanson, National Review
Data Reveals North Korea's Nuclear Capability
Geoff Brumfiel, Nature
Hunger Pain Tests North Korean Succession
Shim Jae Hoon, Yale Global
Time to End North Korea's Genocide
Robert Park, The Diplomat
The death of Kim Jong-il, though not entirely unexpected given the state of his health following a debilitating stroke in August 2008, has had a powerful psychological impact both ...(full article)
As far as the 21st century goes, compared to the alternatives, it is more likely that we are in a pre-American than a post-American age....(full article)
North Korea may have conducted two covert nuclear weapons tests in 2010, according to a fresh analysis of radioisotope data. The claim has drawn scepticism from some nuclear-we...(full article)
An anxious world, watching for signs of instability after the death of Kim Jong Il, has been reassured for the time being. After 37 years of brutal rule marked by firing squads ...(full article)
Has North Korea violated the international norm known as the Responsibility to Protect to the point that intervention is warranted? I would argue the answer is an unequivocal “y...(full article)
Related Videos
Most Recent Articles
Obama Policy Increases Risk in Korea - Michael Mazza, The American
The Obama administration’s newly released strategic guidance for the Defense Department emphasizes the importance of defending U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific. It’s ironic...
The Factions Behind North Korea's Facade - Aidan Foster-Carter, Asia Times
Say what you will about North Korea, they put on a great show. Kim Jong-il's funeral was a fine performance, ...
Why Beijing-Seoul Ties Are So Fraught - Gilbert Rozman, The Diplomat
North Korea looms over ties between China and South Korea. Indeed, the future of the North Korean regime goes to the very heart of longstanding tensions....
North Korea's Unlikely Reformer - Takashi Yokota, The Daily Beast
In a new book out in Japan, Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korea's new leader, claims that he is a reformer, opposed to succession, but defends his father's legacy....
Kim Jong-un's Dangerous Brother - Scott Snyder, The Diplomat
Kim Jong-nam's vocal criticism of his brother's ascension to power in North Korea poses an early challenge to the new leader – and puts China in a tricky position....
The Last Kim of Pyongyang? - Daniel Kliman, Foreign Policy
For more than two decades, Myanmar was a pariah state ruled by military generals that suppressed political dissent, straitjacketed the media, persecuted ethnic minorities, and -- d...
How South Korea Can Shape the North - IRSN
The article looks at the legacy of international isolation, economic hardships and over-dependence on China that Kim Jong-il's military-first politics have left. The authors argue ...
A Glimmer of Hope from North Korea - JoongAng Daily
Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-un's older half-brother, had attributed his shameful elimination from the competition for power and his life in de facto exile overseas to his mistake of s...
North Korea: International Beggar - Doug Bandow, The Skeptics
The death of North Korea's Kim Jong-il put relations with the rest of the world on hold. But Pyongyang has stirred, reprising its role as international beggar....
Nudge North Korea on Economic Reform - Korea Times
It is naive to think that North Korea will soon adopt economic reform. But South Korea and its allies can provide carrots so that the communist country can open its economy to the ...
North Korea May Be Looking at Change - William Pesek, Bloomberg
Among the many tantalizing questions surrounding Myanmar's flirtation with democracy is this: Might Kim Jong Un be enticed to try something similar in North Korea?...
The Danger of Improv in North Korea - U.S.-Korea Institute
Kim Jong Il’s death was announced less than three weeks ago. But the world is surprisingly quickly getting used to the new leadership in North Korea, as if there were no conc...
The Man With Real Power in North Korea - Nicholas Miller, Flashpoints
Western analysts have scrambled to learn as much as possible about North Korea’s Jang Song-thaek. His skill in not only surviving political purges, but rising to the top of N...
North Korea Unlikely to Bargain Away Its Nukes - The Economist
Even mass hunger may not drive North Korea into bargaining away its nuclear capability....
Why We Need Detente With North Korea - Bennett Ramberg, New Republic
Whatever Kim Jong-Il's death meant for the people of North Korea, it did not change the fundamental strategic interest that the United States has in the country. The paramount ...
What Not to Do About North Korea - Victor Cha, The Diplomat
The announcement of Kim Jong-un as Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army is one more step in the process of Pyongyang’s efforts to consolidate power as quickly ...
Another View of North Korean Succession - Taylor Brodarick, Forbes
Kim Jong-il’s death was a very big story last month. Why? Breaking during the height of the holiday shopping season, it offered journalists a respite from holiday shopping fo...
The Dandong Time Machine - Peter Martin, China Power
With the death of Kim Jong-Il, North Korea and China watchers have been engaged in some pretty intense Kremlinology, trying to make sense of elite politics in Pyongyang. But wha...
The North Korea-ification of Iran - Max Fisher, The Atlantic
How the Islamic Republic and its many antagonists perpetuate a stand-off that's bad for everyone and nobody wants....
Can Christianity Save North Korea? - Isaac Stone Fish, Foreign Policy
North Korea is a difficult place to spread the Gospel. In the last year, at least three Christian activists working on the border have been stabbed by poisoned needles, like...
Seizing the Moment With North Korea - Kim Young-hie, JoongAng Daily
The Lee administration is thinking about linking food aid with the family reunions to resume food assistance to the North. About five tons of rice would be provided for each North ...
The U.S. Cornered Itself on North Korea - Thomas P. M. Barnett, Battleland
In short, all our ducks are lining up for the Great Containment of Chinese military power in East Asia. Tired of the “long war” and counter-insurgency and nation-buildi...
The Madness of North Korea - Ian Buruma, Project Syndicate
Can an entire people go mad? Sometimes it certainly seems so. Images of North Koreans in their hundreds of thousands howling with grief over Kim Jong-il’s death suggest somet...
No Change in North Korea - Andrei Lankov, Asia Times
The Dear Leader's death is unlikely to be the turning point in North Korean history the world envisions, since this succession was carefully pre-planned and the public is well-vers...
Does North Korea Want Reunification? - Moon Chang-keuk, JoongAng Daily
Will the North Koreans want to unite with us when they see the extreme wealth gap in South Korean society? Would they want to live in a country where college graduates are jobles...
An Unnerving Year Ahead for Northeast Asia - Japan Times
2012 holds out the prospect of equally consequential changes for Asia, but the inflection points are visible well ahead of time....
North Korea After Kim Jong-il - Institute for Defense Studies & Analyses
The demise of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il on December 17, 2011 has introduced a new dimension to the security situation in Northeast Asia. Though the fragility of peace is ...
North Korea's Merchant Class Key to Change - Robert Fouser, Korea Times
Apprehension hangs in the air as Korea starts 2012. The sudden death of Kim Jong-il in the closing days of 2011 put worries about North Korea back on the table at a time of great u...
New Kim, Same North Korea - John Hemmings, The Diplomat
Events surrounding the death of Kim Jong-il have revealed a country in transition, and an elite apparently shifting seamlessly from one ruler to another. Yet the funeral list, the ...
The Guardians of Kim Jong-un - Nicole Miller, The Diplomat
The death of Kim Jong-il this monthcame as a surprise to North Korean watchers. His third son, Kim Jong-un, has now been anointed “Supreme Leader” and will reporte...
China's North Korean Confusion - Adam Cathcart, Foreign Policy
China can't decide if it wants to bury Kim Jong-il or to praise him....
Time to Talk About Regime Change in North Korea - The Economist
TO HIS many victims, and to anyone with a sense of justice, it is deeply wrong that Kim Jong Il died at liberty and of natural causes. The despot ran his country as a gulag. He spr...
Changes in Beijing May Add to Korean Chaos - Gordon Chang, Daily News
Just as Washington and Seoul are looking to Beijing to rein in its troublesome ally, we may see Chinese flag officers goading their North Korean counterparts instead....
Battle for Power Awaits North Korea - Jack Kim, Irish Independent
Despite the extraordinary show of military power, ceremonial pomp and tens of thousands of weeping extras choreographed to tearful, almost spontaneous perfection yesterday, North K...
North Korea's Plight Proves Power of Markets - Bill Flax, Forbes
Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s despised Marxist dictator has met his Maker. While not someone many will miss, there are lessons to glean while we anxiously wait for what the futu...
Keeping Up With the Kims - Georgy Toloraya, 38 North
I remember my first close encounter with Kim Jong Il in July 2000 in Pyongyang, when he briskly walked into the room in Paekhwawon Guest House, where Russian President Putin and hi...
North Korea Remains a Threat to Americans - Angus Reid
Many Americans believe that the passing of Kim Jong-il will have little effect on North Korean society, and still consider the country a menace to the United States, a new Angus Re...
China Bloggers' Grim Humor on North Korea - Adam Minter, Bloomberg
On Dec. 19, not long after news of Kim Jong Il's death went public, the Chinese Communist Party issued a note of condolence reminding the North Korean people that he was "a close f...
In North Korea, Watch Rason - Kim & Abrahamian, New Leaders Forum
In 1991, the North Korean government dubbed Rajin-Sonbong (Rason) a free trade zone to attract foreign capital. However, less than a decade later, the zone lost its free trade stat...
Preparing for the Next Korean War - Robert Haddick, Small Wars
The sudden death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and the presumptive elevation of his son Kim Jong Un, has cast a pall of uncertaintyover the region and in Washington. Last yea...
Kim Jong-un's First Challenges - Michael Green, JoongAng Daily
Just as Kim Jong-il negotiated the Agreed Framework with the United States the year after his father died, it could be that Kim Jong-un turns to engagement next year....
North Korea's Samurai Rules - Yuriko Koike, Project Syndicate
Although Kim Jong-il received his reign from his own father, North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung, history suggests that a clean transfer from father to son is the exception ...
Time for Pyongyang Regime to Die - Sen. Jon Kyl, RealClearWorld
The recent death of the brutal North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is welcome news. Kim was a murderer and cruel oppressor who inhabited a bizarre alternate universe - sipping on ex...
Korean Tragedy Must End Quickly, Peacefully - Tom Plate, Japan Times
Major historic chapter-ending news often seems so terribly sudden. Many North Koreans were said to be sincerely weeping over the demise of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il, but for other...
About North Korea
- Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- Population: 22,665,345 (50th)
- Area Size: 46,540 sq mi (98th)
- GDP: $40 billion (96th)
- Currency: North Korean won (KPW)
- Official Language: Korean
- Capital City: Pyongyang
- Largest City: Pyongyang
News from North Korea
SKoreans visit jointly run factory
AP - Eight South Korean lawmakers made a high-profile visit Friday to a modern factory park that sit...
China: Syria veto won't hurt cooper
AP - U.S. outrage over Beijing's veto of a U.N. Syria resolution won't affect cooperation on other i...
Age, military ties mark Kim Jong Un
AP - Wherever North Korea's young new leader goes, they're there: a group of graying military and po...
North Korea opens door to talks wit
AP - North Korea is open to immediate talks with rival South Korea if Seoul responds to several prec...
North Korea challenges Seoul to Q+A
Reuters - North Korea's new leadership, highly critical of South Korea since taking power, published...