On Korea: Academic Paper Series
From the Issue
On Korea: Academic Paper Series 2007About On Korea: Academic Paper Series
In December 2006, KEI initiated our Academic Paper Series in which we commission up to 10 papers per year with diverse perspectives on original subjects of current interest to Korea watchers. This year-long program provides both leading Korea scholars and new voices from around the world to speak and write on trends and events affecting the Korean peninsula.
Disaster Management and Institutional Change in the DPRK: Trends in the Songun Era
One cannot enter the same river twice. Every time one looks at North Korea, on the surface it appears boringly the same. Its life fl ows in the same predictable direction, accelerating at narrow rapids in well known locations that shake up internal stability and generate international agitation. Once these easily identifi able but hard to overcome bottlenecks are cleared, the stream of life fl attens, slows, and returns to the acceptable order. One can detect the signs of some subterranean trends—economic, social, demographic, political, and cultural trends—shaping the direction and pace of life in the country and affecting its relationships with the outside world. Interpretation of these trends is subjective, and frame of reference is important: neither demonization nor adulation nor ignorant arrogance increase our understanding of reality.