North Korea : state of paranoia / Paul French ; index by John Barker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

French, Paul, author.

Contributor:

Barker, John, bibliographic antecedent.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Korea (North)--Politics and government.

Korea (North).

Korea (North)--Social conditions.

Korea (North)--Social life and customs.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (482 p.)

Edition:

3rd ed.

Place of Publication:

London, [England] ; New York, New York : Zed Books, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A gripping and provocative account of one of the world's most secretive countries.

Contents:

Front cover; About the author; Title; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations, spellings and figures; A note on spellings and names; A note on figures; Foreword: The myth and the reality of the state of paranoia; Introduction: The paranoid peninsula; Observers of planet Pyongyang; Tentative reform; The problem of the command economy; North Korea: paranoid peninsula; Part I The Juche nation: beloved leaders, brilliant thoughts, power cuts and empty shelves; 1 A normal day in Pyongyang; Pyongyang: capital of our revolution; A roof over your head; Badges, bicycles and fashions

Looking for the rush hour Shopping; Work and school; Love, marriage and fun; Living in the land of perfect bliss; 2 The Juche state: political theory in North Korea; The politics of self-reliance; A creative application of Marxism-Leninism; Selective borrowings from Maoism; Confucianism: tapping into traditional thinking; Underpinnings of Korean nationalism and traditionalism; The architects of Juche; 'Original, brilliant and revolutionary'?; The contradictions of self-reliance; 3 The revolutionary dynasty: leadership in North Korea; Birth of a personality cult

From guerrilla leader to leader of a nation Consolidation and dominance; The undisputed Great Leader; The successor and Dear Leader; 'Expect no change from me'; Tiger father, dog son; The lodestar of the twenty-first century; Part II The economics of North Korea: Chollima, speed battles, collapse and famine; 4 Economics Pyongyang style: command and control; The possibility of perestroika, the impossibility of glasnost; The Chollima spirit; The Great Leap Outward; The impregnable fortress of socialism; The industrial crown jewels; The lack of investment; The doublethink on foreign trade

From subsidy junkie to ailing economy Palaces galore but no socks; The economy shows its cracks; The arduous march begins; The energy crisis: grinding to a halt; The two-track survival economy; The DPRK as an aid economy; The command economy remains firmly in place; 5 The worst of times: food, famine and the arduous march; From riches to rags; The collective agricultural disaster; 'Slow motion famine'; Attempts to resolve the agricultural crisis; Dying in silence; Solving the shortages; The end of the arduous march; 6 The start of a sort of reform: change and regime survival

Open windows attract flies Perestroika à la Pyongyang; Wages and pricing reforms; Jettisoning the ration; The role of farmers' markets; Reaching under the mattress; Chinese and Russian reform precedents; Pyongyang's twilight economy; A fishing rod of temptation; Reform or die; 7 The reality of reform: a case study of Sinuiju; Caged investment; Sinuiju is announced; The orchid grower comes to town; Greenhouses from Shenyang to Pyongyang; What kind of zone was Sinuiju to be?; The departure of the orchid grower; Sinuiju's confusing message

Part III Diplomacy and the military: foreign relations, nuclear crisis and self-defence

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed May 14, 2014).

ISBN:

9781780329499

1780329490

OCLC:

879430530