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Andrei Lankov

A. N. Lanʹkov

The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia Hardcover – Illustrated, 1 April 2013

by Andrei Lankov (Author)

4.5 370 ratings

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The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia
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Andrei Lankov has gone where few outsiders have ever been. A native of the former Soviet Union, he lived as an exchange student in North Korea in the 1980s. He has studied it for his entire career, using his fluency in Korean and personal contacts to build a rich, nuanced understanding.

In The Real North Korea, Lankov substitutes cold, clear analysis for the overheated rhetoric surrounding this opaque police state. After providing an accessible history of the nation, he turns his focus to what North Korea is, what its leadership thinks, and how its people cope with living in such an oppressive and poor place. He argues that North Korea is not irrational, and nothing shows this better than its continuing survival against all odds. A living political fossil, it clings to existence in the face of limited resources and a zombie economy, manipulating great powers despite its weakness. Its leaders are not ideological zealots or madmen, but perhaps the best practitioners of Machiavellian politics that can be found in the modern world. Even though they preside over a failed state, they have successfully used diplomacy-including nuclear threats-to extract support from other nations. But while the people in charge have been ruthless and successful in holding on to power, Lankov goes on to argue that this cannot continue forever, since the old system is slowly falling apart. In the long run, with or without reform, the regime is unsustainable. Lankov contends that reforms, if attempted, will trigger a dramatic implosion of the regime. They will not prolong its existence.

Based on vast expertise, this book reveals how average North Koreans live, how their leaders rule, and how both survive.

ISBN-10

0199964297
ISBN-13

978-0199964291
Edition

Illustrated
Publisher

OUP USA
Publication date

1 April 2013
Language

English
Dimensions

2.79 x 16.26 x 23.62 cm
Print length

283 pages
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Product description

Review

In his accessible and refreshingly fair-minded new book, Andrei Lankov does a fine job of making sense of the world's most inscrutable state...it is a commanding overview of the country's politics and society, and a significant contribution to policy debates in the United States and South Korea. ― International Affairs Journal

Lankov offers a nuanced picture of this secretive country, drawing on his own experience and the North Koreans he has interviewed. ― Clare Debenham, THE

[ The Real North Korea ] provides an extraordinary insight into a state that defies conventional categories of tyranny. ― Oliver Kamm, The Times

This is the best all round account of North Korea yet. ― Aidan Foster-Carter, Times Literary Supplement

[Lankov's] book is an important curative to the unhelpful gaggle of pundits who describe nuclear-armed North Korea as "irrational" or an impenetrable "black box" ― Christian Oliver, Financial Times

There is no better road map in English than this wise, anecdotally rich and entertaining book. ― Richard Lloyd Parry, The Times

Superb,.. An engaging blend of scholarship, reportage and memoir, offers striking details about daily life in a country reminiscent of George Orwell's '1984'. ― new York Times Book Review

[A] probing, clear-eyed study Lankov's is one of the best and most accessible recent accounts of this seemingly outlandish nation. ― Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Andrei Lankov is Professor of History at Kookmin University in Seoul, South Korea. A native of Leningrad, he studied in North Korea as an exchange student. His books include North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in North Korea, and From Stalin to Kim Il Sung: The Formation of North Korea, 1945-1960.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ OUP USA; Illustrated edition (1 April 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 283 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0199964297
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199964291
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 2.79 x 16.26 x 23.62 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 1,136,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 490 in History of Korea
- 1,224 in Geopolitics
- 19,718 in Political Science & Ideology

Customer reviews:
4.5 370 ratings

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Andrei Lankov
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Andrei Lankov is a historian and analyst of Korea past and present. He at present runs a research project that investigates daily life in North Korea through interviews with North Korean refugees. He is a professor of Kookmin University in Seoul, South Korea, and is also a regular commentator on Korean issues in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The International Herald Tribune, as well as on CNN, Fox, and Al Jazeera.
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A. N. Lanʹkov
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4.5 out of 5

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bibliophile89

Really interesting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 May 2023

Verified Purchase

Really interesting and easy to digest history of North Korea. Great history. I wish there was more background into North Korea prior to the Kim dictatorship but I think that’ll be another book

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Geoff Crocker

Good analytical history but lacks a core diagnostic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 February 2014

Verified Purchase

Andrei Lankov’s history and analysis of North Korea is written in an interesting, accessible and engaging journalistic style. He paints a dire picture of contemporary life there. He offers prognoses for the future of North Korean society, and examines policy options for the rest of the world. Along with other authors on North Korea, he argues that the regime is rational, although in a Machiavellian sense, and the people more content than they were. This rationality is however very domain specific, and neither enlightened nor overall. He elsewhere presents the people as seriously oppressed.

Minor quibbles are that the text is often repetitive, the argument at times goes round in circles, and Lankov uses the cumbersome device of referring to himself as ‘the present author’, and then writing in the third person.

There is good coverage of the Kim dynasty and some of the general population, but insufficient coverage of the elite in between the two. Who are the people who devised Juche philosophy, or the people apparently capable of developing nuclear technology almost independently? Where did they come from, and whence their skills? How does the Kim dynasty interact with this elite? It matters, because it poses the question of whether the regime would simply collapse without the Kims, or whether an extensive power elite really controls the Kims and the country.

9 people found this helpful

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John Hardy

Very authoritative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 May 2021

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It is very clear that the author knows his subject. It really is a very well researched and well argued summary of the state of affairs in North Korea. It might have been helpful to have looked in a bit more detail at the spiritual aspects of the area. NK was in the early 20th century a strongly Christian country but now holds the dubious distinction of being one of the worst persecutors of Christians worldwide. Meanwhile South Korea has seen a huge expansion of the church. It now sends out more missionaries than any nation apart from the USA despite having a fairly small population

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MA

Balanced and exhaustive view of a mostly unknown society

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 October 2013

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It is difficult to asses a book on a society that is as closed to the outside world as North Korea. But Lankov seems authoritative and consistent in his own personal recollections of life there, supported by a long list of documents. Also, he uses his own personal experience as a citizen of the former Soviet Union to explain subtleties that most probable would be lost for a westerner observer. The book, particularly its conclusions, reflects Lankov's dissatisfaction with the predominant views among policy makers (and the media) towards the "North Korea problem", and clearly shows how both hawkish and dovish strategies have so far failed to stop the Kim dynasty from pursuing the nuclear bomb option. The book's description of the origins of the current hereditary communist dictatorship, from the struggles of "idealists who wanted to bring a perfect world", resembles very much my own experience with similar (and more recent) developments in other countries and continents.
Lankov is very aware his own suggestions on how to deal with the North Korean leadership are not attractive for politicians (and the media) keener on quick and drastic solutions to the "problem". Nevertheless, the grim perspective the book presents for the future if the current (or past) policies continue should make every government involved to consider Lankov's proposals.

One person found this helpful

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Mr. A. J. Scholefield

The One to read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 August 2013

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I have now read several books about North Korea and in my mind this is the one to read if you want to find the best one to clarify the questions I had in my mind such as--Do the N.Korean people really believe the stuff the Kim regime has been peddling all these years and ,if so, how come? This book perhaps did not tell me a lot new about the Kims but it did explain in more depth how their control has been maintained and it also opened my eyes to some very interesting aspects of S.Korea and its relationship to the North.Lankov ended with some predictions--which of course may not happen---about how the Kim regime may finally end and how other countries, especially USA, would best respond---depressingly he suggested that they almost certainly will not respond in a helpful way and I could myself see USA`s wrong-headed policy towards Cuba as a fair example of why that will probably be true.

3 people found this helpful

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Seeker

Thoughts on North Korea

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 March 2015

Verified Purchase

I found this a fascinating and very readable book. It is particularly interesting in setting-out the difficulties in the West, South Korea and even China in dealing with North Korea. I would though liked to have heard more about what life is like in North Korea and what the populace really think. I also would like to hear about more about the Juche principle. Of course, it may be that there is really no substance to it and it is not worthy of serious analysis.

One person found this helpful

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Ned Jericho

Most informative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 May 2017

Verified Purchase

With all the recent tensions regarding the USA and North Korea I thought it a good time to read about the North Korea government . The book is well written and hard to put down once you have started it. The book is most informative about the history of North Korea and the assessment of its economic position. The book also helps you understand its relationship with China and the former USSR. The conclusions of the book make sense as well. I cannot recommend this book enough for those who want to know more about North Korea.

One person found this helpful

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Jules

Clear and insightful.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2020

Verified Purchase

A very good, concise and insightful introduction to the country. Avoids the all too familiar litany of lurid horror stories and instead presents some persuasive arguments about the tragic fate of the country and a sense of what it is like for those who have to live there.

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The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia Hardcover – Illustrated, 1 April 2013

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About the authors

Andrei Lankov

A. N. Lanʹkov

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