Great leader, dear leader : demystifying North Korea under the Kim Clan /

Veteran Asia journalist Lintner (the Far Eastern Economic Review) is respected both for his reporting from the field and for his shrewd insights. Before being allowed a rare brief visit to North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the last of the isolated Leninist fiefdoms, Lintner immersed himself in the reporting and scholarship available on "Great Leader" Kim Il-Song and his son, "Dear Leader" Kim Jung-Il, and interviewed world Korean experts, including South Koreans and refugees from North Korea. The result is an extremely useful summary of the history and structure of North Korea. Opening chapters give pithy briefings on the "Kim Clan" and the "Sunshine" policies of South Korean leaders seeking to reunite with the DPRK. Lintner then outlines what we know about the famines of the 1990s, the army and the ruling party, nuclear questions, labor camps and refugees, industrial development, and the questions facing the world about policy toward North Korea. Lintner demonstrates that the current regime is not mindless or irrational but follows its own logic. The Kims'juche philosophy ("self-reliance" or "self-identity") is based on North Korea's history as a small state with large neighbors, a vibrant culture, and a revolution that succeeded in command but failed in development. Recommended for libraries wanting to supplement their holdings on this subject.--Charles W. Hayford, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.