North Korea: Another Socialism in Transition Dr. June Hee ...

North Korea:
Another Socialism in Transition

Dr. June Hee Kwon
[email protected]

COURSE DESCRIPTION

North Korea has been frequently represented as the most eccentric and secluded socialist
country in the world. The extraordinary nature has been highlighted by the particular
style of social hierarchy and leadership/dictatorship, strong focus on militarization in its
approach to international politics, long impoverished livelihood, and the underdeveloped
economy. Despite the long-standing critiques or ridicule as a “failed” state, however,
North Korea has maintained continuity and longevity of a strong regime, carrying out the
state’s cherished idea—Juche,“self-sufficiency.” And the inherited leadership for three
generations has remained intact. The questions we explore over the course are cultural,
historical and political. What is socialism and what is the historical origin of North
Korean socialism? In what way has the North Korean regime attempted to establish
nationhood and peoplehood? How is North Korean way similar to or different from that
of other modern nation states or other socialist countries? In what way can or cannot the
stories of North Korea help us challenge and rethink the existing theories of citizenship,
state, nationalism, socialism, and global capitalism? What comes next?

This class aims to historicize the peculiar type of North Korean socialism and the unique
form of the nationhood and peoplehood, and examine what forces have constituted the
very peculiarity. And the class is designed to provide a new historical and theoretical
understanding of what socialist transition mean in a globalized economy. To do this, we
explore theories of state and socialism, historical narratives, ethnographies, firsthand
witness stories, journalistic analysis, documentaries, and films made in and beyond North
Korea. Students are asked to read, write, and discuss analytically, critically, and
engagingly throughout the course.

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Weekly Paper (20%): 600 words that summarize main concepts and arguments of the
assigned materials and suggest three questions that our class should push further.

2. Review Paper (20%x2): 3000 words that reflect thorough understanding of assigned
materials. The question will be provided a week prior to the deadline.

3. Analysis Paper (30%): 5000 words that explore a specific topic that interest you through
out the course. The theme should be discussed with instructor beforehand; annotated
bibliographies and topic related class materials should be well combined and reflected in
the final paper.

4. Participation (10%): engaged discussion and attendance.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

PARTI: SOCIALISM AND REVOLUTION

WEEK1. What is Socialism?
• Karl Marx & Fredrich Engels, 1848, “ The Communist Manifesto”
• Lenin, 1917, “The State and Revolution (class society and the state),” in Essential Works

of Lenin
• Michael Burawoy & Jans Lukacs, 1985, “ Mythologies of Work: a Comparison of Firms

in State Socialism and Advanced Capitalism,” American Sociological Review 50:6
• Charles Armstrong, 2008, “Socialism, Sovereignty, and the North Korea Exception,” in

North Korea: Toward a Better Understanding

WEEK2. North Korean Socialist Revolution
• Robert Scalapino & Chung-sik Lee. 1972. Communism in Korea (TBD), University of

California Press.
• Charles Armstrong, 2003, Chapter1. Revolution on the Margins &Chapter2. Liberation,

Occupation, and the Emerging New Order in The North Korean Revolution: 1945-1950
• Hongkoo Han, “Colonial Origin of Juche,” in Origin of North Korea’s Juche:

Colonialism, War, and Development
• B.R.Myers, 2010, Part1. History of North Korea’s Official Culture, in The Cleanest Race
• Andrei Lankov, 2002, Chapter1. North Korea in 1945-8: The Soviet Occupation and the

Birth of the State in From Stalin to Kim Il Sung: The Formation of North Korea 1945-
1960

WEEK3. The Korean War
• Sheila Miyoshi Jager, 2013, Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea

(Selection)
• Bruce Cumings, 2011, The Korean War: a History (Selection)
• Documentary: Unforgettable: the Korean War (2010)

WEEK4. Ideology and Juche
• Terry Eagleton, 2007, “What is Ideology? “in Ideology
• Kongdan Oh & Ralph Hassig, 2000, “The Power and Poverty of Ideology,” in North

Korea through the Looking Glass
• Charles Armstrong, 2003, Chapter8. The People’s State in The North Korean Revolution:

1945-1950
• Gavan McCormack (2004), Chapter 3. “The Juche World: Father, Son, and State,” in

Target North Korea: Pushing North Korea to the brink of nuclear catastrophe
• Jae Jung Suh, 2012, “Making Sense of North Korea: Juche as an Institution,” in Origin of

North Korea’s Juche: Colonialism, War, and Development
• Documentary: STATE OF MIND

PARTII. STATE MAKING AND COLD WAR

WEEK5. Making State
• Kongdan Oh & Ralph Hassig, 2000 “ The Military: Pillar of Society,” in North Korea

through the Looking Glass
• Charles Armstrong, 2003, Chapter 3. Remaking the People, in The North Korean

Revolution: 1945-1950
• Byungho Chung & Heonik Kwon, 2012, Chapter 2. The Modern Theater State & Chapter

3. The Barrel of a Gun in North Korea Beyond Charismatic State
• Sonia Ryang, 2008, “Biopolitics or the Logic of Sovereign Love,” in North Korea:

Toward a Better Understanding

WEEK6. Everyday Life
• Suzy Kim, 2013, Chapter 1. Revolution in Everyday Life & Chapter 3. Three Reform:

Initiating the Revolution in Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution: 1945-1950
• Kongdan Oh & Ralph Hassig, 2009, Chapter 3. Economic System & Chapter4. The

economy of everyday life, in The Hidden People of North Korea: Everyday Life in the
Hermit Kingdom
• Bruce Cumings, 2004, Chapter 4. Daily Life in North Korea in North Korea: Another
Country, New Press
• Documentary: BBC Uncover Story (2013)

WEEK7. Industrialization/Urbanization
• Charles Armstrong, 2003, Chapter5. Planning the Economy in The North Korean

Revolution: 1945-1950
• Charles Armstrong, 2013, Chapter 2. Postwar Reconstruction and a Declaration of the

Self-Reliance, in “Tyranny of the Weak: North Korea and the World 1950-1992
• Cheehyung Kim 2012, “North Korea’s Vinalon City: Industrial Myth as Everyday Life,”

Positions.

WEEK8. Making Culture
• Sukkyoung Kim. 2010. Illusive Utopia: Theatre, Film and Everyday Performance in

North Korea. University of Michigan Press (Selection)
• Charles Armstrong, 2003, Chapter 6. Constructing Culture, in The North Korean

Revolution: 1945-1950
• Woo Young Lee & Jungmin Seo ,2013,“Cultural Pollution” from the South? In North

Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy and Society.
• Documentary: Dear Pyoung Yang(2005)

PARTIII. CRISIS or TRANSITION?

WEEK9. Nuclear Crisis
• Bruce Cumings, 2003, “Nuclear Crisis,” in North Korea: Another Country
• Victor Cha, 2012, The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future (Selection)
• Haeyoung Kim, 2014, Stifled Growth and Added Suffering: Tensions Inherent in

Sanction Policies against North Korea, Critical Asian Studies 46:1
• Andrei Lankov, 2014, Chapter 4. Survival Diplomacy in Real North Korea: Life and

Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia

WEEK10. Famine and Food Aid
• Andree, Ayers, Bosia, Massicotte, 2014, “Food Sovereignty and Globalization: Lines of

Inquiry,” in Globalization and Food Sovereignty
• Johan Pottier, 1999, Food Security in Policy and Practice, in Anthropology of Food: The

Social Dynamics of Food Security
• Meredith Woo-Cumings, 2002, “The political Ecology of Famine: the North Korean

Catastrophe and Its Lessons,” Asian Development Bank Institute Research Institute 31
• Stephan Haggard& Marcus Noland, 2007, Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and

Reform (Selection)
• Nicholas Eberstadt, 2013, Western Aid: Missing Link for North Korea’s Economic

Revival? In North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy and Society.

WEEK11. Human Rights
• Tessa Morris-Suzuki, 2009, “Refugees, Abductees, ‘Returnees’: Human Rights in Japan-

North Korean Relations.” In North Korea: Toward a Better Understanding. Lanham:
Lexington Books
• Jin-Heon Jung, 2011, State and church in the making ofpost-division subjectivity: North
Korean migrants in South Korea, MMG Working Paper
• Ju Hui Judy Han, 2013, “Beyond Safe Haven: Critique of Christian Custody of North
Korean Migrants in China,” Critical Asian Studies 45:4
• Paul Liem, 2014, “Peace as a North Korean Human Right,” Critical Asian Studies 46:1
• Blaine Harden, 2013, Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from
North Korea to Freedom in the West (selection)
• Movie: Camp14 (2014)/Seoul Train (2006)

WEEK 12. Open Economy, and Beyond
• Kongdan Oh & Ralph Hassassig, 2000, Turning Point Economy, in North Korea through

the Looking Glass
• Felix Abt, 2014, Capitalist in North Korea: My Seven Years in Hermit Kingdom

(Selection)
• Hyun Ok Park, 2008, “The Politics of Unification and Neoliberal Democracy: Economic

Cooperation and Human Rights,” in North Korea: Toward a Better Understanding