How has North Korea been able to survive, and how long can it last without significant change to its economic and political structures? This examines North Korea's survival strategy and practical solutions to a fifty-year nuclear standoff through a series of essays written by thirteen of the world's foremost scholars and leading experts on strategy, economics, and international relations.

Since the end of the Cold War, scholars and analysts have been predicting the collapse of the communist regime in North Korea. Yet, despite a deteriorating economy characterized by declining industrial output, outdated technology, and difficulty feeding its people, the country has been able to persist and continues to plod along. How has North Korea been able to survive, and how long can it last without significant change to its economic and political structures? How can we peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear standoff through constructive dialogue?

This book examines North Korea's survival strategy and offers practical solutions to a 50-year nuclear standoff through a series of essays written by 15 of the world's foremost scholars and leading experts on strategy, economics and international relations. It is essential reading for anyone interested in peace in Northeast Asia and will be invaluable in helping policy-makers, diplomats, politicians, researchers and other North Korea watchers to understand three closely related issues about North Korea: (1) why North Korea will continue to survive; (2) how the United States and North Korea can build a mutual confidence; and (3) why a dialogue is the only viable way to resolve the North Korea problem peacefully.

Reviews

This book should be read by any scholar, journalist or diplomat interested in developments on the Korean peninsula. It offers extremely valuable insights and helpful recommendations for peaceful change." — Hans-Ulrich Seidt, German ambassador to the Republic of Korea

"This volume, which includes insights from some of the foremost practitioners of direct engagement with North Korea, examines comprehensively the contradiction between the conventional wisdom that the North Korean system is unsustainable and the reality of North Korea's ability to adjust and survive. This volume examines the factors that have sustained North Korea and the extraordinary policy challenges that a nuclear North Korea's survival--or its demise--may generate for peninsular and regional stability in Northeast Asia." — Scott Snyder, director, Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, The Asia Foundation

"For understandable reasons, there has been a tendency, particularly in the United States, to focus almost entirely on the nuclear issue when thinking about North Korea. A similar comment could be made about the recurrent preoccupation with collapse. This welcome collection of papers achieves a broader perspective by stepping back and asking some very fundamental questions about the sources of North Korea's demonstrated durability and how the country might evolve in a variety of dimensions over the medium- to long-run...a laudable contribution on an important issue." — Marcus Noland, deputy director, Peterson Institute for International Economics

About the Author

Suk Hi Kim is a professor of international finance, is the coordinator of finance and international business at the University of Detroit Mercy. He is the editor of North Korean Review and the founding editor of Multinational Business Review. He lives in Plymouth, Michigan.

Terence Roehrig is a professor at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He lives in Newport.

Bernhard J. Seliger is the resident representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Korea and the book review editor of North Korean Review.