North Korea and the Enigma of Survival

Authors

  • Alex Taek-Gwang Lee

Keywords:

democracy, Kim Il Sung, Juche, modernization, self-reliance, socialism

Abstract

This paper sets out to balance the problematic “objective” status of North Korea on one hand as a “democratic” state (a democratic people’s republic), with its framing in liberal political discourse as a monstrous dictatorship on the other. The case of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is as complex and misleading as its name, and here I argue that in order to grasp the enigma of its survival as a political regime or dynasty, one must come to terms with the ongoing drive of Stalinist (pseudo-)socialist modernization that gripped the country after World War II, and which dovetails with North Korea’s Juche ideology of self-reliance.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Downloads

Published

2018-10-25

How to Cite

Lee, A. T.-G. (2018). North Korea and the Enigma of Survival. Filozofski Vestnik, 39(2). Retrieved from https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/filozofski-vestnik/article/view/7054

Issue

Section

Democracy and Modernity in Korea