Andrei Lankov

"here has been little, if any, doubt that nothing short of a massive regime collapse, or full-scale war, will ever produce a non-nuclear North Korea. The regime is run by cold-minded and rational peopl…"

"The great famine of 1994-98 was to a large extent the inviolable result of the policies that Kim Il Sung had pursued for decades. The famine was brought about by Kim Il Sung’s fanatical belief in a hy…"

"Right now, no sane and unbiased person would be so stupid as to doubt that the North Korean state is very repressive."

"If a North Korean university professor is suspected of insufficient enthusiasm for the system, they will be gone without a trace very quickly. Even the memory of the unlucky victim would likely disapp…"

"The unavoidable spread of South Korean capital and information will put the North Korean government in a tight spot, to put it mildly."

"For the average North Korean over the last two decades, the times of Kim Il Sung have often been seen as a lost era of order and stability, in which everyone could be sure that twice a month they woul…"

"North Koreans now understand that South Korea is very rich. It is true, but there is a great difference between vaguely understanding something and having such graphic images of neighbors' prosperity …"

"The North Korean elite does have some sources of hope. The elite itself remains, on the surface at least, remarkably united. The lack of a civil society and very strong social control makes the emerge…"