North Korea in Transition

Politics, Economy, and Society

The world's leading North Korea experts analyze the challenges and prospects the country is facing.

Book
Foreign policy analyses written by CFR fellows and published by the trade presses, academic presses, or the Council on Foreign Relations Press.

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North Korea

Political Transitions

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 under way in Pyongyang and the implications for both domestic and international politics.

More on:

North Korea

Political Transitions

Reviews and Endorsements

Timely . . . lays out the bigger picture and questions with a sweep that is rarely seen in the English-language analysis of the country.

Wall Street Journal

This book meets a pressing need for wide-ranging, timely coverage of North Korea. It offers diverse, sometimes clashing views, especially over the future of the regime. Many chapters cover areas neglected elsewhere, deepening the debate. Others offer strong opinions, trying to steer the debate. Sensibly, the concluding chapter by the two editors draws the arguments together, leaving the reader with a clear sense of the options that lie ahead.

Gilbert Rozman, Princeton University

An important work on the future of North Korea by an outstanding array of practitioners and academic experts. As the Pyongyang regime attempts to consolidate rule under the newest 'Dear Leader,' it will continue to defy simplistic analysis. This book is a great advance to understanding the enigma that is North Korea.

Stephen Bosworth, Tufts University

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