1. This section is based on a National Geographic documentary about life in North Korea by Lisa Ling and illustrates how North Koreans have to behave in front of party cadres and especially foreigners. The documentary is available through YouTube. Lisa Ling, Under Cover in North Korea, National Geographic, 2006, https://documentaryheaven.com/inside-north-korea/.
2. “Overview of North Korea,” NTI, June 2018, https://www.nti.org/learn/countries/north-korea/
3. Fujimoto Kenji, Kim Jong Ileui yorisa [Kim Jong Il’s chef], trans. Shin Hyeon Oh (Seoul: Monthly Chosun, 2003), 136.
4. Fyodor Tertitskiy, “Songbun and the Five Castes of North Korea,” NK News, February 26, 2015, https://www.nknews.org/2015/02/songbun-and-the-five-castes-of-north-korea/.
5. “Sahoe gyecheung gujo” [Social class structure], North Korean Information Portal, Ministry of Unification, http://nkinfo.unikorea.go.kr/nkp/overview/nkOverview.do?sumryMenuId=SO303.
6. B. R. Myers, The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters (Brooklyn, NY: Melville House, 2010), Kindle loc. 935–937.
7. “Kim Il Sung-Kim Jong Il jueui” [Kim Il Sung–ism and Kim Jong Il–ism], North Korean Information Portal, Ministry of Unification, http://nkinfo.unikorea.go.kr/nkp/overview/nkOverview.do?sumryMenuId=PO003.
8. Ruediger Frank, “North Korea’s Economic Policy in 2018 and Beyond: Reforms Inevitable, Delays Possible,” 38 North, August 8, 2018, https://www.38north.org/2018/08/rfrank080818/.
9. Ibid.
10. Interview with Young-ja Park, Korea Institute for National Unification, Seoul, September 7, 2018.
11. Frank, “North Korea’s Economic Policy in 2018 and Beyond.”
12. Leslie Stahl, “President Trump on Christine Blasey Ford, His Relationships with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un and More,” 60 Minutes, October 15, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-interview-60-minutes-full-transcript-lesley-stahl-jamal-khashoggi-james-mattis-brett-kavanaugh-vladimir-putin-2018-10-14.
13. Ibid.
14. Masaji Ishikawa, A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea (Seattle, WA: Amazon Crossing), 1–2.
15. Ibid., 60.
16. Barbara Crossette, “Korean Famine Toll: More Than 2 Million,” New York Times, August 20, 1999, https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/20/world/korean-famine-toll-more-than-2-million.html.
17. Daniel Goodkind and Loraine West, “The North Korean Famine and Its Demographic Impact,” Population and Development Review 27, no. 2 (June 2001): 234.
18. “How Did the North Korean Famine Happen?,” Wilson Center, April 30, 2002, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/how-did-the-north-korean-famine-happen.
19. Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, “Hunger and Human Rights: The Politics of Famine in North Korea,” U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2005, 10, https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Hunger_and_Human_Rights.pdf.
20. Jordan Weissmann, “How Kim Jong Il Starved North Korea,” The Atlantic, December 20, 2011, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/12/how-kim-jong-il-starved-north-korea/250244.
21. Quoted in “How Did the North Korean Famine Happen?,” Wilson Center.
22. Weissmann, “How Kim Jong Il Starved North Korea.”
23. Ibid.
24. Later, in 1997, Hwang would become the highest-ranking North Korean official to defect to South Korea, along with his deputy. Hwang was one of the key figures who developed Juche and one of North Korea’s leading political thinkers.
25. “Kim Jong Ileui ‘sanghai cheonjigaebyeok’ baleon” [Kim Jong Il’s “Shanghai’s fundamental transformation” remarks], NK Chosun, April 26, 2001. The term “cheonjigaebyeok” (天地開闢) literally means “profound changes in the heavens and earth” and is often used to describe truly remarkable developments.
26. “Kim Jong Il jungguk baljeonsangae chunggyeok bamjam seolchoetda” [Kim Jong Il unable to sleep after seeing China’s shocking development], Joongang Ilbo, March 30, 2006, https://news.joins.com/article/2246569.
27. Nicholas Eberstadt, “What Is Wrong with the North Korean Economy,” American Enterprise Institute, July 1, 2011, http://www.aei.org/publication/what-is-wrong-with-the-north-korean-economy.
28. Ibid.
29. “World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers 2017,” U.S. Department of State, https://www.state.gov/t/avc/rls/rpt/wmeat/2017/index.htm.
30. Ruediger Frank, “The North Korean Parliamentary Session and Budget Report 2018: Cautious Optimism for the Summit Year,” 38 North, April 19, 2018, https://www.38north.org/2018/04/rfrank041918.
31. “Less Than 1 Aircraft Carrier? The Cost of North Korea’s Nukes,” Voice of America, July 20, 2017, https://www.voanews.com/a/north-korea-nuclear-program-costs/3951886.html.
32. Fujimoto, Kim Jong Ileui yorisa, 136.
33. Kenji Fujimoto, Wae Kim Jung Un inga? [Why Kim Jong Un?], trans. Han Yu Hee (Seoul: Maks Media, 2010), 125.
34. Ibid., 131.
35. “New Stories Emerge from North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-un’s Swiss School Days,” News.com.au, January 16, 2018, https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/new-stories-emerge-from-north-korean-dictator-kim-jonguns-swiss-school-days/news-story/4d49237a5dbe99d421bb8ec7ae60974c.
36. Pat Ralph, “Kim Jong Un’s High School Teacher Says the North Korean Leader Probably Knows English and Just Pretends Not To,” Business Insider, June 11, 2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/kim-jong-un-high-school-teacher-switzerland-2018-6.
37. “Statement by President Moon Jae-in at a Joint Press Conference Following the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit in Pyeongyang,” Cheongwadae, September 19, 2018, http://www.korea.net/Government/Current-Affairs/National-Affairs/view?subId=680&affairId=750&pageIndex=1&articleId=163666.
38. “Remarks by President Moon Jae-in at a Cabinet Meeting,” Cheongwadae, October 8, 2018, http://english1.president.go.kr/BriefingSpeeches/Speeches/76.
39. Ibid.
40. Choe Sang-Hun, “Will Kim Jong-un Trade His Nuclear Arsenal to Rebuild Economy?,” New York Times, April 21, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/21/world/asia/north-korea-kim-jong-un-nuclear-tests.html.
41. Kim Wae Hyeon, “Kim Jeong Un, nongeop hyeondaehwa-cheoldo geonseolduchuk sama geyeongjae gaehyeok ikkeuldeut” [Kim Jong Un likely to lead economic reforms through two pillars of farming modernization and railway construction], Hankyeoreh Shinmun, June 20, 2018, http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/international/china/849919.html.
42. Park Su-hyeon, “Kim Jeong Un ‘gyeongjae baljeoneuiji’ eoneujeongdoilkka … nunmul heulineun yeongsangkkaji jaejak” [How strong is Kim Jong Un’s “devotion to economic development” … even making a movie that shows him shedding tears], Chosun Ilbo, May 30, 2018, http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2018/05/30/2018053002620.html.
43. Andrew Salmon, “Getting to Grips with Law and Business in High-Risk North Korea,” Asia Times, December 3, 2018, https://www.asiatimes.com/2018/12/article/getting-to-grips-with-law-and-business-in-high-risk-north-korea.
44. Ibid.
45. Andrew Salmon, “Going Native in the Hermit Kingdom,” Asia Times, December 4, 2018, https://cms.ati.ms/2018/12/going-native-in-the-hermit-kingdom.
46. “Bukhaneui gyeongjaejeongchek hyunhwawa gaehyeokgaebang jeonmang” [Changes in North Korea’s economic policy and prospects for reforms and openness], Ministry of Unification, North Korea Information Portal, http://nkinfo.unikorea.go.kr/nkp/overview/nkOverview.do?sumryMenuId=EC204.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid.
49. Martyn Williams, “North Korea Moves Quietly onto the Internet,” Computerworld, June 10, 2010, https://www.computerworld.com/article/2518914/north-korea-moves-quietly-onto-the-internet.html.
50. Priscilla Moriuchi, “North Korea’s Ruling Elite Adapt Internet Behavior to Foreign Scrutiny,” Recorded Future, April 25, 2018, https://www.recordedfuture.com/north-korea-internet-behavior/.
51. Insikt Group, “Shifting Patterns of Internet Use Reveal Adaptable and Innovative North Korean Ruling Elite,” Recorded Future, October 25, 2018, https://www.recordedfuture.com/north-korea-internet-usage/.
52. Ibid.
53. Cited in Anthony Fensom, “North Korea Far from Following Vietnam,” The Diplomat, June 11, 2018, https://thediplomat.com/2018/06/north-korea-far-from-following-vietnam.
54. Gang Min-su, “Dandok: Buk gyehyeokgaebang jeondam jojik sinseol … jung gongsandangae jiwon yocheong” [Sole report: North Korea creates new organization on reform and openness … asks China’s Communist Party for support], KBS News, November 6, 2018, http://news.kbs.co.kr/news/view.do?ncd=4067885&ref=A.
55. Peter Ward, “North Korea as the Next Vietnam? It’s Unlikely,” NK News, May 15, 2018, https://www.nknews.org/2018/05/north-korea-as-the-next-vietnam-its-unlikely.