SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY 2016 COURSE SYLLABUS

INTERNATIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE June 29 – July 28, 2016

North Korean Politics and Society

Course Code 200.132 (College of Social Sciences)

Class Times Mon/Wed/Thu Classroom Building No. 140-1
09:00-12:00 Room No. 101
Equivalent Year Level 2 Course Credit 3

Instructor I B. Philo KIM Sessions 3-11

Office Bld.73, Rm. 209A Email [email protected]
Instructor II Frederic OJARDIAS Sessions 1,2,12-14
Office Bld.140-1, Rm. 615 Email [email protected]

❏ Instructor I’s Profile (Sessions 3-11)

B. Philo KIM
Associate Professor, Institute for Peace and Unification Studies,
Seoul National University.
Professor Kim had formerly served as a senior fellow and director
of North Korean Studies Division at a government funded research
institute KINU, or Korea Institute for National Unification. He is
currently serving or served as advisory committee members in
National Intelligence Service, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of
Unification, Korea Broadcasting System, Korean Council for
Reconciliation and Cooperation, etc. He is the author of Reading North Korea by Chosun
Korea (2016), Korean Division and Peaceless Life (2014), Kim Jong Un Succession System
(2011), North Korean Diaspora (2011), Flexible and Complex Unification theory (2010).
.
Education
Ph.D., Sociology, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey
M.A., Sociology, Indiana State University
B.A., Sociology, SungKyunKwan University

Expertise
Political Sociology, North Korea, Inter-Korean Relation, Unification Policy

Most Recent Works

“Social Conflict and Identity Crisis in Unified Korea” International Journal of Korean Unification Studies,
Vol. 24, No.1. (2015), 1-33.
Division Violence: Irenological Reflection on the Militarization of Korean Peninsula. Acanet, 2016.

❏ Instructor II’s Profile (Sessions 1,2,12-14)

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 SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY 2016 COURSE SYLLABUS
INTERNATIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE June 29 – July 28, 2016

Frederic OJARDIAS
Lecturer, Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul National
University.
Frederic Ojardias is a lecturer at the Graduate School of
International Studies of Seoul National University since 2014. He
worked in North Korea as a humanitarian worker for the French
NGO Première Urgence (health related projects in 12 North
Korean hospitals) in 2007 and for the United Nations World Food
Program (food distribution monitoring in 8 provinces) in 2008. He
a high quality photo as a
obtained his Ph.D. (thesis : the Humanitarian Dilemma in North Korea and the Experience
ofseparate file.
EU NGOs) at INALCO Paris in December 2013. Based in Seoul, he also works as a
freelance correspondent for diverse French media outlets.

Education
Ph.D. Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), Paris
M.A. Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul National University
B.A. Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA), Lyon

Expertise
Humanitarian Aid, North Korea, International Relations

Most Recent Works

Revivre à Fukushima ?, December 2015, Le Monde Diplomatique
Sur « l’île de la paix », un village sud-coréen menacé, November 2014, Le Monde Diplomatique
Les journalistes face à la Corée du Nord, March 2014, in Korea Analysis (Asia Centre, Paris)
Surmonter le dilemme de l’aide humanitaire en Corée du Nord, 2013, in Tang’un (Patrick Maurus ed.), Où va
la République populaire démocratique de Corée ? (pp. 149-168), L’Harmattan, Paris

❏ Course Information
Course Description This course examines North Korea—the world’s last major hermit
society. Isolated, destitute, totalitarian, and ruled by a communist
hereditary dictatorship, North Korea remains, despite ten years of
generous engagement policy by South Korea since the late-1990s,
“the most perfected totalitarian state” the world has ever known. In
the wake of twenty years of food insecurity, the priorities of the
regime remain military build-up through “military-first politics,”
deification of the ruling family through extravagant propaganda
campaigns, and internal control through the operation of extensive
political prisoner concentration camps. What does the future hold
for North Korea under Kim Jong Un? Emphasis on the Kim Il Sung-
Kim Jong Il-Kim Jong Un continuum, strategy of brinkmanship,
human rights problems, nuclear politics, and the implications of
regime preservation or collapse.
Course Evaluation Class participation 10%
You are expected to attend all classes on time and be ready to
engage in meaningful discussion of the readings. Attendance is
required.

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 SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY 2016 COURSE SYLLABUS
INTERNATIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE June 29 – July 28, 2016

Oral presentation 30%

15 minute-oral presentation, on one of the following dates: July
25, 27, or 28. Depending on the size of the class, you may be asked
to give a joint presentation with a partner.

Final paper 60%: 10 double-spaced pages

You will be expected to submit a ten-paged, double-spaced paper
by July 28. You may select one of the suggested subjects in the
syllabus or you may select a subject that is not addressed in the
syllabus. You will be expected to incorporate primary sources
related to your research. Be judicious in using direct quotations, and
cite all sources properly. Late assignments will not be accepted, but
if you know you will be absent on July 28, you may email a Word
(*.doc or *.docx) attachment by July 31 to the instructor. The
instructor is not responsible for lost emails. Attachments not in
Word, Word-compatible formats or PDF will not be accepted.
You are required to produce your own work for this course. You
are committing plagiarism if you borrow text from a book, article,
website or other work by another author without properly citing the
source. If you borrow or buy someone else’s work product and pass
it off as your own, you are cheating. Neither is permissible under
any circumstance. Students who violate either the letter or spirit of
University regulations will face disciplinary proceedings and may
automatically fail the course.
Recommend Books James Church, A Corpse in the Koryo. Minotaur Books, 2006.
John Everard, Only beautiful Please: A British diplomat in North
Korea. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, 2012.
Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, Witness to transformation,
refugee insights into North Korea. 2011.
Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, Famine in North Korea:
Markets, Aid, and Reform (New York: Columbia University
Press, 2007).
Philo Kim, Reading North Korea by Chosun Korea: In-depth
Analysis of the Real North Korean Society. Seoul: Seoul
National University Press, 2016.(in Korean unfortunately)
Bradley K. Martin, Under The Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader:
North Korea and the Kim Dynasty (New York: Thomas Dune
Books, 2006).
Barbara Demick, Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
(New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2009).
Nicholas Eberstadt, The North Korean Economy: Between Crisis
and Catastrophe (Edison, N.J.: Transaction Books, 2007).
Kang Chol-Hwan & Pierre Rigoulot, Yair Reiner, tr., Aquariums of
Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag (New York:
Basic Books, 2001).
Guy Delisle, Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea (New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005).
Andrei Lankov, North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in North

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INTERNATIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE June 29 – July 28, 2016

Korea (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Co., 2007).

Andrei Lankov, The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the
Failed Stalinist (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Ministry of Unification(MOU), 2014 Understanding North
Korea.(Institute for Unification Education, MOU, 2014).
Dae-Sook Suh, Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1988).
Class Policy To be announced later

❏ Course Schedule

June 29 Introduction: North Korean Exceptionalism

General introduction to DPRK. Why it is important to understand North

Korea exceptionalism. Insights from a former humanitarian worker in
Pyongyang

Start reading Andrei Lankov, North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in
North Korea (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Co., 2007).
Read 1-95 by July 4; 96-211 by July 14; 212-330 by end of class, July 28.

Start reading Barbara Demick, Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North

Korea (New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2009).
Read 1-102 by July 4; 103-210 by July 14; 211-294 by end of class, July
28.

June 30 Emergence of the Two Koreas and the North Korean Communist
Experiment

The Japanese colonization, the guerilla experience, communist movements

on the Korean peninsula, after the Liberation: early years of DPRK

Bradley K. Martin, Under The Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North
Korea and the Kim Dynasty (New York: Thomas Dune Books, 2006), 1-68

July 4 North Korea: DPR Korea or Chosun Korea

Lankov(2013), Introduction, xi-xv.

MOU, 11-24.
*Kim, Introduction, 1-32. (*bilingual Korean participation recommended for
discussion)

July 6 The Korean War and the War time System

i. Regional Self Reliance System

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INTERNATIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE June 29 – July 28, 2016

ii. Class Structure based on War-related Family background “SungBoon”

Lecture Note part I, pp. 3-12
Lankov(2013), Chapter 1, 1-66
MOU, Chapter 2, 25-96.
*Kim, chapters 1-2

July 7 Juche and North Korean Mindset

Lecture Note part I, pp. 13-20.

Lankov(2013), Chapter 1, 67-74
MOU, Chapter 3, 97-152.
*Kim, chapter 3.
(Student oral presentations on the issue related)

July 11 The “Arduous March” and Socio-economic Changes

i. The North Korean Famine: A Catastrophe Non-Pareil

ii. Marketization and the Quality of Life
Lecture Note part II, pp. 21-84.
Lankov(2013), Chapter 2, 75-108 .
MOU, Chapter 5, 217-280
*Kim, Chapters 8-9.
Soo Am Kim, et.al. The Quality of Life of North Korean: Current Status and
Understanding. Seoul: KINU, 2012.
(Student oral presentations on the issue related)

July 13 Human Rights and Religion

Lecture Note part III-1,2,3, pp. 85-134

MOU, Chapter 7, 349-417.
*Kim, chapter 10, 297-334.
Soo-Am Kim, Conceptions of Democracy and Human Rights in the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Seoul: KINU, 2008. (pdf)
Bo-hyuk Suh, North Korean Human Rights: Crafting a More Effective
Framework (IPUS, 2016).
(Student oral presentations on the issue related)

July 14 Education and Culture

Lecture Note part III-4,5, pp. 135-148.

MOU, Chapter 6, 281-348.
*Kim, Chapters 6-7, 183-284.(*bilingual Korean participation recommended
for presentation)

Music (Youtube)

July 18 Ambition Frustrated: North Korean Nuclear Dream

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INTERNATIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE June 29 – July 28, 2016

Lecture Note, 168-173.

Lankov(2013), Chapter 4, 145-186.
ICG(International Crisis Group). 2009. “The Shades of Red: China’s
Debate over North Korea,” Asia Report. No. 179 (November 2).
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/north-east-asia/north-korea/179-
shades-of-red-chinas-debate-over-north-korea.aspx
*Kim, Chapter 11.(*bilingual Korean participation recommended for
presentation)

(Student oral presentations on the issue related)

July 20 N North Korea with the South

Lecture Note, 139-148, 149-167, 198-202.

*Kim, Chapter 14, 425-463.
(Student oral presentations on the issue related)

July 21 North Korean in the South: Talk with a SNU student from North Korea

July 25 North Korea Sanctions Policy

(Student oral presentations begin)

Purpose and efficiency of sanctions, sanctions vs engagement, sanctions and

humanitarian aid)

Joshua Stanton, “North Korea: The Myth of Maxed-Out Sanctions,” Fletcher

Security Review (Vol. 2, No. 1), 2015.
http://www.fletchersecurity.org/#!stanton/c1vgi

Bruce Klingner, “Moving Beyond Timid Incrementalism: Time to Fully

Implement U.S. Laws on North Korea,” U.S. House of Representative
Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing, “The U.S. Response to North Korea’s
Nuclear Provocations,” January 13, 2016.

July 27 The Future of North Korea – What to do about the North?

(Student oral presentations)

Where is going the North Korean regime, scenarios of collapse, which North
Korean policy to choose

Sung-Yoon Lee, "The Boy Who Would Be King: Can Kim III Last?" The
National Bureau of Asian Research Expert Brief, December 28, 2011.
http://www.nbr.org/research/activity.aspx?id=194

Nicholas Eberstadt, The End of North Korea (Washington, D.C.: The AEI

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INTERNATIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE June 29 – July 28, 2016

Press, 1999), 1-24; 115-139.

July 28 Final class

Wrap up class. Q&A. debate

No required readings. Student papers