Infantalizing North Korea

Posted by on May 10, 2013 in Articles, Featured, Korea | 2 comments Political cartoonists love to portray North Korea as an irrational and infantile force. It’s either a baby with a nuclear rattle or a little truant in need of a timeout. The relative youth of the country’s leader Kim Jong Un, encourages such representations, but the practice predates his ascension to power. According to the dictates of their profession, cartoonists must exaggerate to make...
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The Real North Korea

Posted by on Apr 21, 2013 in Articles, Book Reviews, Featured, Korea | 0 comments Any book that purports to tell the story of the “real North Korea” runs the risk of serious overhype. North Korea, after all, is perhaps the least understood, least accessible, and least research-friendly country in the world. It has been called an “intelligence black hole.” Journalists rarely visit, and when they do they can’t just interview anyone they please. Historians rarely visit,...
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The Paradoxes of the Pacific Pivot

Posted by on Apr 10, 2013 in Articles, Asia, Featured, Korea, Uncategorized, US Foreign Policy | 0 comments The “Pacific pivot” of the United States is nothing new. At the same time, it doesn’t really exist. And yet, even though it doesn’t exist, this pivot is partly responsible for the escalation of tensions in and around the Korean peninsula. How can all three of these statements be simultaneously true? Such are the paradoxes of the U.S. shift in attention toward the Pacific Rim. The Obama...
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North Korea’s Nuclear Theater

Posted by on Dec 18, 2012 in Articles, Featured, Korea | 0 comments The most important rule in the world of theater is to keep the attention of your audience. If they become distracted or bored, if they start to fidget in their seats, the illusion of the spectacle is at risk. Once word gets out that you can’t deliver as a playwright or a director, the audiences dwindle. And fewer people are interested in your next offering. North Korean leaders have always...
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Korea and the 2012 Elections

Posted by on Aug 29, 2012 in Articles, Featured, Korea, US Foreign Policy | 0 comments It’s election time in the United States, and once again Washington doesn’t care about Korea. I realize that this is a difficult pill for Koreans to swallow. Koreans naturally believe that, since Korea is at the heart of East Asia and East Asia is at the heart of the global economy, American politicians and voters care deeply about what happens on the peninsula. Koreans are encouraged in this...
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North Korea and Disneyland

Posted by on Aug 3, 2012 in Articles, Featured, Korea | 2 comments When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently watched a concert that included Disney figures like Mickey Mouse, it was big news. Foreign analysts rushed to the conclusion that the young leader was presiding over a shift in Pyongyang’s attitudes about the West. After all, Mickey Mouse is a symbol of American imperialism and Western penetration almost as potent as McDonald’s. But the worlds of...
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