North Korean Decisionmaking
Title | North Korean Decisionmaking PDF eBook |
Author | John V. Parachini |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 124 |
Release | 2020-08-20 |
Genre | Business & Economics |
ISBN | 9781977405531 |
The authors examine (1) experiences of different communist regimes to forecast North Korean adoption of a new economic model; (2) what might happen if conventional deterrence fails on the Peninsula; and (3) why North Korea might use nuclear weapons.
Management and Decisionmaking in the North Korean Economy
Title | Management and Decisionmaking in the North Korean Economy PDF eBook |
Author | Norman D. Levin |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 76 |
Release | 1982 |
Genre | Industrial management |
ISBN |
This study examines the implications of North Korea's broad approach to desionmaking and the management of its economy for its ability to sustain a high level of military effort over the next 5-7 years. The study is divided into two main sections. The first concerns the capabilities of the management system. The second section focuses on elite perceptions. A final section assesses the implications of North Korea's broad management approach for the question of military 'sustainability'. (Author).
North Korean Leadership Dynamics and Decision-making Under Kim Jong-un
Title | North Korean Leadership Dynamics and Decision-making Under Kim Jong-un PDF eBook |
Author | Ken E. Gause |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 160 |
Release | 2013 |
Genre | Korea (North) |
ISBN |
It has been a year and a half since Kim Jong-il died and his third son, Kim Jong-un, assumed the reins of power in North Korea. Questions remain regarding Kim's ability to run the regime and the workings of the decision-making process inside the North Korean leadership. Decision-making in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has evolved over time to suit the needs of the Supreme Leader and the politics of the time. In the months since Kim Jong-un took power, his age and capability for making decisions and managing the regime have been subject to speculation. Issues of North Korean political culture, which places extraordinary power in the hands of the Supreme Leader, have been weighed against the existence of powerful individuals and institutions that reside in close proximity to the young leader. Whether they have a decision-making role or simply serve in the role of consigliere is unclear. This paper will examine the leadership dynamics surrounding Kim Jong-un's first year in power in an attempt to piece together the picture of how decision-making and policy execution work under the new leader. It will begin with a discussion of the politics of power consolidation and the centers of power within the regime. This will be followed by a speculative discussion of how decision-making might work and how policies are executed. Recent photographs of formal and informal leadership meetings have been presented in the North Korean media, but do they actually portray the decision-making process? The regime's red lines regarding policy and its calculus regarding provocation versus engagement will be considered both for what they say about stability within the regime and for any insights that could inform the United States' North Korea policy.
North Korea and the Science of Provocation
Title | North Korea and the Science of Provocation PDF eBook |
Author | Robert Daniel Wallace |
Publisher | McFarland |
Total Pages | 265 |
Release | 2016-02-03 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 0786499699 |
Why does North Korea routinely turn to provocation to achieve foreign policy goals? Are the actions of the volatile Kim regime predictable, based on logical responses to the conditions faced by North Korea? This book, an examination of the "Hermit Kingdom" over the past 50 years, explains why the Democratic People's Republic of Korea uses hostility and coercion as instruments of foreign policy. Using three case studies and quantitative analysis of more than 2,000 conflict events, the author explores the relationship between North Korea's societal conditions and its propensity for external conflict. These findings are considered in light of diversionary theory, the idea that leaders use external conflict to divert attention from domestic affairs. Analyzing the actions of an isolated state such as North Korea provides a template for conflict scholarship in general.
North Korean Leadership Dynamics and Decision-making Under Kim Jong-un
Title | North Korean Leadership Dynamics and Decision-making Under Kim Jong-un PDF eBook |
Author | Ken E. Gause |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 200 |
Release | 2014 |
Genre | Korea (North) |
ISBN |
North Korea under Kim Chong-il
Title | North Korea under Kim Chong-il PDF eBook |
Author | Ken E. Gause |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing USA |
Total Pages | 256 |
Release | 2011-08-17 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0313381763 |
This much-needed study draws on fresh material and firsthand observation to provide an understanding of North Korea as it exists today. North Korea under Kim Chong-il: Power, Politics, and Prospects for Change delves deeply into what we know—and what we think we know—about the current North Korean system. This incisive book probes the dynamics that inform the nation's domestic and foreign policies, examining key leadership institutions and personalities, as well as prospects for the next regime. In outlining the major events behind Kim Chong-il's assumption of power, Ken E. Gause illuminates the environment that shaped Chong-il's worldview and his concept of the regime and his role in it. The book focuses on regime politics since 1994. Among other critical topics, the book examines the evolution of North Korean decision-making with regard to its internal and external affairs and how both are intermingled. The prospects for a third hereditary succession and the prospective stability of the next regime are also considered.
Understanding North Korea
Title | Understanding North Korea PDF eBook |
Author | Institute for Unification Education, Ministry of Unification (South Korea) |
Publisher | 길잡이미디어 |
Total Pages | 422 |
Release | 2015-01-30 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
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