The impossible state North Korea, past and future

Over the past two decades, North Korea has survived despite abandonment by its Soviet benefactors, the death of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, economic collapse, and massive starvation. This reclusive state found a way to endure these difficulties while simultaneously developing nuclear weapons. To explain how this happened, Cha (government & Asian studies, Georgetown Univ.; Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia) thoroughly examines North Korea's history, ideology, economics, society, and foreign relations. Additionally, Cha argues that North Korea's government will soon collapse because of foreign and domestic pressures, accelerated by the recent death of Kim Jong Il. The regime's demise in the next few years, he says, will create serious challenges for northeast Asia and the United States. Cha supports his claims with a mix of evidence and speculation based on his experience as the former director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration. VERDICT This is essential reading for all North Korea watchers. Cha merges his analysis with personal stories from his experiences as a negotiator in the Six-Party Talks, which makes this an informative and enjoyable read for anyone with an interest in the topic.-Joshua Wallace, South Texas Coll. Lib., McAllen (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From the former director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, an eye-opening view of the closed, repressive dictatorship of North Korea. Cha (Foreign Service/Georgetown Univ.; Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia, 2008, etc.) first visited North Korea during George W. Bush's second term with then-governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson to try to defuse nuclear-testing tensions. The author was amazed at the chasm between party haves and everybody else, confirming all that he knew about the authoritarian country. Cha aims to get at some of the pressing questions since Kim Jong-il's death and the succession of the utterly unknown younger son, Kim Jong-une.g., what happened to this once-vigorous dictatorship, and why does the populace do nothing about it? How can the West know so little about what really goes on there? For Cha, the key that unlocked the regime's secrets was its nostalgia for the good old days of the 1950s and '60s, when China and the Soviet Union were bolstering North Korean industry and military, while the South was still an agrarian backwater. American aggression during the Korean War left a lasting bitterness, and while the South was grappling with American ambivalence toward its leaders, the North under Kim Il-sung embraced the ideology of juche, or self-reliance, and the cult of the Great Leader. As a result, writes Cha, the North Koreans are simply too oppressed to revoltnot to mention the devastating effects from "Olympic envy" of trying to catch up to Seoul's 1988 hosting, and the terrible famine of the mid '90s. The author looks closely at the Kim family, the terrible economic decisions that plunged the country into poverty, the shocking gulag system, its paranoid nuclear proliferation program and the tenuous relations with South Korea. A useful, pertinent work for understanding the human story behind the headlines.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.