North Korea under Kim Chong-il
Ken E. Gause


This much-needed study draws on fresh material and firsthand observation to provide an understanding of North Korea as it exists today.

North Korea is often in the news, regarded by many as a threat to the Asian region and, by extension, to the rest of the world. What underlies current policies and decision-making in the Hermit Kingdom? Perhaps more important, what is the near future likely to bring?

North Korea under Kim Chong-il: Power, Politics, and Prospects for Change delves deeply into what we know—and what we think we know—about the current North Korean system. This incisive book probes the dynamics that inform the nation's domestic and foreign policies, examining key leadership institutions and personalities, as well as prospects for the next regime.

In outlining the major events behind Kim Chong-il's assumption of power, Ken E. Gause illuminates the environment that shaped Chong-il's worldview and his concept of the regime and his role in it. The book focuses on regime politics since 1994. Among other critical topics, the book examines the evolution of North Korean decision-making with regard to its internal and external affairs and how both are intermingled. The prospects for a third hereditary succession and the prospective stability of the next regime are also considered.