North Korean Foreign Policy: Security Dilemma and Succession

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North Korean Foreign Policy: Security Dilemma and Succession, by Yongho Kim, starts from the point of view that North Korea's provocations have been motivated more by fear than by her in-born provocative nature. Kim argues that North Korea's provocative foreign policy reflects its threat perception stemming from various security dilemma, and a very real concern regarding another father-to-son succession. This volume views North Korea's external and domestic threats as causes and its provocative foreign policy as an effect of the causes. The security dilemma has impelled North Korea to generate and thus portray to the world provocative signals, and the ever-pressing issue of Kim Jong-il's succession has driven him to prioritize his own political survival over that of North Korea's state survival. Unless Kim Jong-il's political survival is guaranteed, North Korea will not be interested in full-scale introduction of capitalist way of economic reform and economic package promised by the United States and South Korea in return for the abandonment of their nuclear program. North Korean Foreign Policy suggests that an effective policy for countries relating to North Korea, whether dovish or hawkish, should deal directly with Kim Jong-il's political survival, and not with Pyongyang's failed economy.

Reviews

This is a fascinatingand frighteninganalysis of the drivers of North Korean foreign policy since 1979. Through close analysis of Pyongyang's words and actions, Kim shows that regime survival is the primary goal in a cold-eyed calculus of provocation and threats. Only reliable guarantees of the regime's security ormore likelyregime collapse will produce the conditions for a multilateral solution to the Korean problem. -- Andrew J. Nathan, Columbia University
This volume presents a timely, up-to-date, balanced, and in-depth analysis of succession politics, security dilemma, and foreign policy of North Korea. This is a must-read for all those who are interested in North Korean affairs. -- Chung-in Moon, Chairman of the Sejong Institute
For any specialist in North Korean studies the book will provide very useful background knowledge, so it clearly should be read and, occasionally, re-read. * Pacific Affairs *

Author Bio

Yongho Kim is professor in the Department of Politics & Diplomacy at Yonsei University.