North Korea Confidential

**Named one of the best books of 2015 by The Economist** Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors. North Korea is one of the most troubled societies on earth. The country's 24 million people live under a violent dictatorship led by a single family, which relentlessly pursues the development of nuclear arms, which periodically incites risky military clashes with the larger, richer, liberal South, and which forces each and every person to play a role in the "theater state" even as it pays little more than lip service to the wellbeing of the overwhelming majority. With this deeply anachronistic system eventually failed in the 1990s, it triggered a famine that decimated the countryside and obliterated the lives of many hundreds of thousands of people. However, it also changed life forever for those who survived. A lawless form of marketization came to replace the iron rice bowl of work in state companies, and the Orwellian mind control of the Korean Workers' Party was replaced for many by dreams of trade and profit. A new North Korea Society was born from the horrors of the era--one that is more susceptible to outside information than ever before with the advent of k-pop and video-carrying USB sticks. This is the North Korean society that is described in this book. In seven fascinating chapters, the authors explore what life is actually like in modern North Korea today for the ordinary "man and woman on the street." They interview experts and tap a broad variety of sources to bring a startling new insider's view of North Korean society--from members of Pyongyang's ruling families to defectors from different periods and regions, to diplomats and NGOs with years of experience in the country, to cross-border traders from neighboring China, and textual accounts appearing in English, Korean and Chinese sources. The resulting stories reveal the horror as well as the innovation and humor which abound in this fascinating country.

"In his new book, Ask a North Korean, Daniel Tudor--a former Economist journalist and current Korean beer entrepreneur-- wants people to understand the true lives of everyday North Koreans. Using translated essays written by defectors, the book covers topics from politics to pornography." -- The Boston Globe Understanding North Korean Through the Eyes of Defectors. The weekly column Ask A North Korean, published by NK News, invites readers from around the world to pose questions to North Korean defectors. Adapted from the long-running column, these fascinating interviews provide authentic firsthand testimonies about life in North Korea and what is really happening inside the "Hermit Kingdom." North Korean contributors to this book include: "Seong" who went to South Korea after dropping out during his final year of university. He is now training to be an elementary school teacher. "Kang" who left North Korea in 2005. He now lives in London, England. "Cheol" who was from South Hamgyeong in North Korea and is now a second-year university student in Seoul. "Park" worked and studied in Pyongyang before defecting to the U.S. in 2011. He is now studying at a U.S. college. Ask A North Korean sheds critical light on all aspects of North Korean politics and society and shows that, even in the world's most authoritarian regime, life goes on in ways that are very different from what outsiders may think.

Originally published in North Korea in 1960, North Koreans "reprint the confidential documents of the U S imperialists & Syngman Rhee clique, which clearly reveal who provoked the Korean War. These were seized by the Korean People's Army in the archives of the enemy organs during the war."

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The North Korean economy has always been based on person-to-person market exchanges, but they have never been as prevalent or necessary as they are today. The state no longer provides for the people, so they must rely on capitalism to survive. #2 The North Korean economy was doing well in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. However, the economy began to decline in the mid-1970s due to mismanagement by Kim Il Sung and the end of Soviet aid. The PDS began to break down in the early 1990s. #3 The North Korean famine of 1994-1998 was the darkest period in the country’s history, and it paved the way for marketization. Today, women in North Korea are becoming more independent and ambitious than ever before. #4 The North Korean government has a difficult relationship with its citizens’ economic liberalization. While there are reform-minded officials in the government, there is also a natural fear of change at the top.

"North Korea strictly limits contact between its citizens and the outside world. Rare occasions, such as the North Korean Mass Games, offer a glimpse of what's often called the secret state. The country typically broadcasts an image of a strong and unified people, but what is the daily reality of life in North Korea? In this look at a major current events topic, state propaganda, defector's accounts, and other annotated quotes highlight conflicting reports. The country's political, economic, and military history is presented through detailed main text, fascinating sidebars, and historical and contemporary images of life in this secret state."--Provided by publisher.

A unique and timely account of life in North Korea. North Korea is like no other tyranny on earth. It is Orwell's 1984 made reality. The regime controls the flow of information to its citizens, pouring relentless propaganda through omnipresent loud speakers. Free speech is an illusion: one word out of line and the gulag awaits. State spies are everywhere, ready to punish disloyalty and the slightest sign of discontent. You must bow to Kim Il Sung, the Eternal Leader and to his son, Generalissimo Kim Jong Il. Worship the dead and then hail the living, the Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. North Koreans are told their home is the greatest nation on earth. Big Brother is always watching. Posing as a university professor, award-winning BBC journalist John Sweeney travelled undercover to gain unprecedented access to the world's most secret state. Drawing on his own experiences and his extensive interviews with defectors and other key witnesses, North Korea Undercover pulls back the curtain, providing a rare insight into life there today, examining the country's troubled history and addressing important questions about its uncertain future. Sweeney's highly engaging, authoritative account illuminates the dark side of the Hermit Kingdom and challenges the West's perception of this paranoid nationalist state.

Long overshadowed by Japan and China, South Korea is a small country that happens to be one of the great national success stories of the postwar period. From a failed state with no democratic tradition, ruined and partitioned by war, and sapped by a half-century of colonial rule, South Korea transformed itself in just fifty years into an economic powerhouse and a democracy that serves as a model for other countries. With no natural resources and a tradition of authoritarian rule, Korea managed to accomplish a second Asian miracle. The author is a journalist who has lived in and written about Korea for almost a decade. In this book, he examines Korea's cultural foundations; the Korean character; the public sphere in politics, business, and the workplace as well as the family, dating, and marriage. In doing so, he touches on topics as diverse as shamanism, clan-ism, the dilemma posed by North Korea, the myths about doing business in Korea, the Koreans' renowned hard-partying ethos, and why the infatuation with learning English is now causing huge social problems.