Bibliography of North Korea

Last updated May 01, 2023

This is a list of works important to the study of North Korea.

General reference

Buzo, Adrian, ed. (2020). Routledge Handbook of Contemporary North Korea. Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-80399-4.
Cumings, Bruce (2011). North Korea: Another Country. New York: New Press. ISBN 978-1-59558-739-8.
A Handbook on North Korea (1st revised ed.). Seoul: Naewoe Press. 1998. OCLC 469900828.
Hoare, James E. (2019). Historical Dictionary of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Second ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1974-7.
Hoare, James E. (2005). North Korea in the Twenty-First Century, an Interpretive Guide. Kent: Global Oriental Ltd. ISBN 978-1901903966.
Kim, Ilpyong J. (2003). Historical Dictionary of North Korea. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-4331-8.
North Korea Handbook. Seoul: Yonhap News Agency. 2002. ISBN 978-0-7656-3523-5.
Understanding North Korea. Seoul: Institute for Unification Education, Ministry of Unification. 2017. OCLC 1013975057.
Smith, Hazel; et al., eds. (1996). North Korea in The New World Order. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-0333626337.
Sweeney, J (2013). North Korea Undercover, Inside the World's Most Secretive State. London: Transworld Publishers. ISBN 978-0552170345.
Worden, Robert L., ed. (2008). North Korea: A Country Study (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-088278-4.

Bibliographies

Catalogue of Korean Publications. Pyongyang: Korea Publications Export & Import Corporation. 2016. ISBN 978-9946-29-343-1.
Cha, Victor; Lee, Ji-Young (2013). "Politics of North Korea". Oxford Bibliographies. doi:10.1093/obo/9780199756223-0109.
Clemens, Walter C. (2016). "North Korea and the World: A Bibliography of Books and URLs in English, 1997–2007". Journal of East Asian Studies. 8 (2): 293–325. doi:10.1017/S1598240800005336. ISSN 1598-2408.
Fraser, Stewart E.; et al. (1972). North Korean Education and Society: A Select and Partially Annotated Bibliography Pertaining to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. London: University of London Institute of Education. ISBN 978-0-900008-16-0.
Grote, Rainer (2008). "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea: Select Bibliography". Oxford Constitutions of the World. Oxford University Press. OCW CM 58 (KP).
Guide to Official Publications of Foreign Countries. Chicago: American Library Association cop. 1990. North Korea. OCLC 470790578.
Halliday, Jon (2019). "Bibliographies on Korea". Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. 11 (4): 45–50. doi:10.1080/14672715.1979.10424021. ISSN 0007-4810.
Halliday, Jon (2019). "Further bibliography on North Korea". Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. 16 (4): 56–57. doi:10.1080/14672715.1984.10412625. ISSN 0007-4810.
Kang, Suk-Young; Watts, Thomas D. (2012). "Historical perspectives on North Korea: a brief introduction and bibliography". Journal of Comparative Social Welfare. 28 (3): 235–240. doi:10.1080/17486831.2012.755932. ISSN 1748-6831. S2CID 143582074.
Kim, Yong-jin (1971). "Annotated Bibliography of North Korean Publications in Archaeology". Asian Perspectives. 14: 29–32. JSTOR 42927734.
Robinson, Kenneth R. (October 2011). "Korean History Bibliography: North Korea". Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawaii.

Geography

Corfield, Justin (2014). Historical Dictionary of Pyongyang. London: Anthem Press. ISBN 978-1-78308-341-1.

Government and politics

Buzo, Adrian (2017). The Guerilla Dynasty: Politics and Leadership in North Korea (Second ed.). New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-28497-0.
Cha, Victor (2012). The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future. London: The Bodley Head. ISBN 978-1-4481-3958-3.
Fifield, Anna (2019). The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1541742482.
French, Paul (2016). Our Supreme Leader: The Making of Kim Jong-un. London: Zed Books. ISBN 978-1-78360-900-0.
Kihl, Young W. (1984). Politics and Policies in Divided Korea: Regimes in Contest. Boulder: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-86531-700-0.
Lankov, Andrei (2014). The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia (Fully updated and revised ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-939003-8.
McEachern, Patrick (2010). Inside the Red Box: North Korea's Post-totalitarian Politics. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-52680-7.
Myers, B.R. (2011). The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It Matters. Brooklyn: Melville House. ISBN 978-1-935554-97-4.
Myers, B.R. (2015). North Korea's Juche Myth. Busan: Sthele Press. ISBN 978-1-5087-9993-1.
Pak, Jung H. (2020). Becoming Kim Jong Un: A Former CIA Officer's Insights into North Korea's Enigmatic Young Dictator. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-1-9848-1972-7.
Scalapino, Robert A.; Chong-Sik Lee (1972). Communism in Korea: The Movement. Vol. 1. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02274-2.
Scalapino, Robert A.; Chong-Sik Lee (1972). Communism in Korea: The Society. Vol. 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02274-2.
Suh, Dae-Sook (1981). Korean Communism, 1945–1980: A Reference Guide to the Political System. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii. ISBN 978-0-8248-0740-5.
Suh, Dae-sook (1988). Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231065736.
Yang, Sung Chul (1994). The North and South Korean Political Systems: A Comparative Analysis. Boulder: Westview. ISBN 9788972250210.

Foreign relations

Kim, Ilpyong J. (1998). Two Koreas in transition: implications for U.S. policy. Rockville: In Depth Books. ISBN 978-0-88702-067-4.
Gills, BR (1996). Korea Verses Korea, a Case of Contested Legitimacy. London: Routledge.
Schapiro, RA (June 1963). "The Foreign Policy of North Korea". The China Quarterly. 14: 30–50.
Young, B (2017). A Revolutionary State: North Korea's Support of Non-State Actors, Past Policies and Future Issues. Academic Paper Series. Washington, D.C.: Korean Economic Institute of America.

Military

Bermudez, Joseph S. (2001). Shield of the Great Leader: The Armed Forces of North Korea. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86448-582-0.
Mitzer, Stijn; Oliemans, Joost (2015). North Korea's Armed Forces: On the Path of Songun. Solihull: Helion. ISBN 978-1-910777-14-5.

History

Buzo, Adrian (2004). The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-64512-X.
Cumings, Bruce (2005). Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History (Updated ed.). New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-34753-1.
Hunter, Helen-Louise (1999). Kim Il-song's North Korea. Westport: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-96296-8.
Lankov, Andrei (2002). From Stalin to Kim Il Song: The Formation of North Korea, 1945-1960. London: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 978-1-85065-563-3.
Lankov, Andrei (2007). Crisis in North Korea: The Failure of De-Stalinization, 1956. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-3207-0.
Oberdorfer, Don; Carlin, Robert (2013). The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History (Revised and updated third ed.). New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-05088-8.
Robinson, Michael Edson (2007). Korea's Twentieth-century Odyssey: A Short History. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-3174-5.
Seth, Michael J. (2018). North Korea: A History. Macmillan International Higher Education. ISBN 978-1-352-00219-5.
Szalontai, Balázs (2005). Kim Il Sung in the Khrushchev Era: Soviet-DPRK Relations and the Roots of North Korean Despotism, 1953-1964. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-5322-7.

Korean War

Cumings, Bruce (1981). The Origins of the Korean War: Liberation and the Emergence of Separate Regimes, 1945-1947. Vol. 1. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-10113-2.
Cumings, Bruce (1981). The Origins of the Korean War: Roaring of the Cataract, 1947-1950. Vol. 2. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-10113-2.
Cumings, Bruce (2010). The Korean War: A History. New York: The Modern Library. ISBN 978-0-679-60378-8.
MacDonald, C (1990). Britain and the Korean War. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd. ISBN 978-0631167716.

Culture

Demick, Barbara (2010). Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (Paperback ed.). New York: Spiegel & Grau. ISBN 978-0-385-52391-2.
Fischer, Paul (2015). A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power. New York: Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-0-241-96999-1.
Gabroussenko, Tatiana (2010). Soldiers on the Cultural Front: Developments in the Early History of North Korean Literature and Literary Policy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-6078-3.
Hassig, Ralph; Oh, Kongdan (2009). The Hidden People of North Korea: Everyday Life in the Hermit Kingdom. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-6718-4.
Howard, Keith (2020). Songs for 'Great Leaders': Ideology and Creativity in North Korean Music and Dance. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-007752-5.
Kim, Suk-Young (2010). Illusive Utopia: Theater, Film, and Everyday Performance in North Korea. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-02689-0.
Lankov, Andrei (2014). North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in North Korea. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5141-8.
Myers, Brian (1994). Han Sorya and North Korean Literature: The Failure of Socialist Realism in the DPRK. Ithaca: East Asia Program, Cornell University. ISBN 978-0-939657-84-1.
Portal, Jane (2005). Art Under Control in North Korea. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-236-2.
Schönherr, Johannes (2012). North Korean Cinema: A History. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6526-2.

Economy and infrastructure

Schwekendiek, Daniel (2011). A Socioeconomic History of North Korea. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8541-3.
Winstanley-Chesters, Robert (2020). Fish, Fishing and Community in North Korea and Neighbours: Vibrant Matter(s). Singapore: Springer Open. doi:10.1007/978-981-15-0042-8. ISBN 978-981-15-0042-8. S2CID 203625857.

Education

Kim, Hyung-chan; Kim, Dong-kyu (2005). Human Remolding in North Korea: A Social History of Education. Lanham: University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-7618-3172-3.

Related Research Articles

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Cho Man-sik was a nationalist activist in Korea's independence movement. He became involved in the power struggle that enveloped North Korea in the months following the Japanese surrender after World War II. Originally, Cho was supported by the Soviet Union for the eventual rule of North Korea. However, due to his opposition to trusteeship, Cho lost Soviet support and was forced from power by the Soviet-backed and pro Soviet communists in the north. Placed under house arrest in January 1946, he later disappeared into the North Korean prison system, where confirmed reports of him end. He is generally believed to have been executed soon after the start of the Korean War, possibly in October 1950.

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Kim Il Sung was a Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Premier from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to 1994. He was the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) from 1949 to 1994. Coming to power after the end of Japanese rule in 1945, he authorized the invasion of South Korea in 1950, triggering an intervention in defense of South Korea by the United Nations led by the United States. Following the military stalemate in the Korean War, a ceasefire was signed on 27 July 1953. He was the third-longest serving non-royal head of state/government in the 20th century, in office for more than 45 years.

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On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work, also known as the "Juche speech", was a speech delivered on 28 December 1955 by Kim Il-sung. The address mentioned his Juche ideology by name for the first time. It is considered one of Kim's most important works and a "watershed moment" in North Korean history. Views differ if the speech used the term juche to launch an ideology or more conservatively to assert that the Korean people were the subject of the revolution. The former believes that Juche, as a distinct ideology, was developed by Hwang Jang-yop on his re-discovery of the speech. The speech was published for the first time in 1960 and in many subsequent, heavily edited revisions since.

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