North Korea has diplomatic relations with 160 states. The country's foreign relations have been dominated by its conflict with South Korea and its historical ties to the Soviet Union. Both the government of North Korea and the government of South Korea claim to be the sole legitimate government of the whole of Korea. The de facto end of the Korean War left North Korea in a military confrontation with South Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
Kim Dae-jung was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the 8th president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003.
Kim Jong Il was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea. He led North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his own death in 2011,when he was succeeded by his son,Kim Jong Un. Afterwards,Kim Jong Il was declared Eternal General Secretary of the WPK.
Kim Jong-nam was the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. From roughly 1994 to 2001,he was considered the heir apparent to his father. He was thought to have fallen out of favour after embarrassing the regime in 2001 with a failed attempt to visit Tokyo Disneyland with a false passport,although Kim himself said his loss of favour had been due to advocating reform.
In the North Korean government,the Cabinet is the administrative and executive body. The North Korean government consists of three branches:administrative,legislative,and judicial. However,they are not independent of each other,but all branches are under the exclusive political leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
Robert L. Suettinger is an American international relations scholar currently serving as a senior advisor at The Stimson Center and an advisor to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC). He was national intelligence officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) from 1997 to 1998 during the Clinton administration. While there,he oversaw the preparation of national intelligence estimates for the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. His areas of specialty are the People's Republic of China and the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
Kim Jong Un is a North Korean politician who has been supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim Jong Il,who was North Korea's second supreme leader from 1994 until his death in 2011,and Ko Yong Hui. He is a grandson of Kim Il Sung,who was the founder and first supreme leader of North Korea from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994.
Paik Haksoon is the Founding President of the Academy of Kim Dae-jung Studies established by the Kim Dae-jung Foundation in Seoul,Korea. Kim Dae-jung was the 15th President of the Republic of Korea and the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2000.
Jo Myong-rok was a North Korean military officer who held the military rank Chasu. In 1998,he was appointed first vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea,Director of the Korean People's Army General Political Bureau. Previously,he was the commander of the air defence forces.
Marshal Choe Kwang was a prominent military leader in North Korea.
Kim Kyong-hui is the aunt of current North Korean leader,Kim Jong Un. She is the daughter of the founding North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and the sister of the late leader Kim Jong Il. She currently serves as Secretary for Organization of the Workers' Party of Korea. An important member of Kim Jong Il's inner circle of trusted friends and advisors,she was director of the WPK Light Industry Department from 1988 to 2012. She was married to Jang Song-thaek,who was executed in December 2013 in Pyongyang,after being charged with treason and corruption.
Jon Pyong-ho was a North Korean officer and politician who served as the Chief Secretary of the Korean Workers Party (KWP) Committee of the North Korean Cabinet,and director of the DPRK Cabinet Political Bureau before his retirement in 2010. Jon was described as the 'Chief architect of North Korea's nuclear programme'. Jon was a general of the Korean People's Army and a close adviser to the late Kim Jong-il.
The Secretariat of the Workers' Party of Korea,formerly known as the Executive Policy Bureau (2016–21),manages the work of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea and its Presidium. The General Secretary leads the work of the Secretariat,and the body is composed of several members.
Kim Yo Jong is a North Korean politician and diplomat. She is the Deputy Department Director of the Publicity and Information Department of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Since September 2021,she has been a member of State Affairs Commission of North Korea,the only woman on the panel.
Kim Yang-gon was a North Korean politician and a senior official of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.
Anna Fifield is the Asia-Pacific editor at The Washington Post. Previously she was the editor of The Dominion Post based in Wellington,New Zealand and the Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post where she focused her attention on news and issues of Japan,North Korea,and South Korea. She has been to North Korea a dozen times.
Pak Myong-chol is a North Korean political figure who joined the 6th Central Committee of the Korean Workers' Party in September 2010,along with Kim Jong Un. He has served in several important posts in North Korea,including on the National Defence Commission and as Minister of Physical Culture and Sports in the Cabinet of North Korea.
This is a list of works important to the study of North Korea.
Sung-Yoon Lee is a scholar,policy advisor,and author specialized on North Korea and East Asia. His written opus has focussed on exposing the wrongdoings of the North Korean regime and advancing policies to curb it. He has contributed to media outlets,published academic papers and a book,and written statements as part of his expert witness advice to the U.S. Congress. His writing style has been described as exuberant,vivid,and sharp,with a meticulous and insightful analysis.
The Sister:The extraordinary story of Kim Yo Jong,the most powerful woman in North Korea is a 2023 biography of Kim Yo Jong,the sister,closest deputy,and potential successor to North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. It was subsequently published in the United States with the title The Sister:North Korea's Kim Yo Jong,the Most Dangerous Woman in the World. It is written by Sung-Yoon Lee,a scholar of Korean and East Asian studies. It is regarded as the first book to offer an in-depth portrait of its subject.
