Understanding North Korea featured on Amazon

Amazon featured Understanding North Korea: Demystifying the World's Most Misunderstood Country in the sidebar over the weekend. It was a "Hot New Release" in Korean History It was also a "Hot New Release" in Military Strategy History (although I wrote it on general strategy, not specifically military strategy). Here are the full pages those screenshots came from. I know it's coincidence, by I'm honored for Amazon to show my book with Sun Tzu's Art of War and Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy. --- EDIT: Here’s the ebook, Understanding North Korea: Demystifying the World’s Most Misunderstood Country. I wrote it to…

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A brief history of Understanding North Korea: Demystifying the World’s Most Misunderstood Country

I wrote the following on Hacker News and thought it fit here. Last week I self-published my first book. My visit to North Korea last year amazed me at how much we base our impressions of North Korea on pre-conceived notions. I already blogged daily, but the experience affected me so much I started posting twice daily, one post on North Korea. Then Kim Jong Il died and tons of articles came out on North Korea, many or most had the same pre-conceived notions or assigned credit to the leaders that I thought were properties of the system, making understanding…

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The best book for understanding North Korea

North Korea fascinates us. Its leaders, their posturing and militarism, their economics, and more all fascinate us. Their belligerence puts them in the news often. Yet we know little about them. More than fascinating, they are globally important. They are a nuclear power with the world's fourth largest military and most militarized border. Yet the media, mainstream and otherwise, mystifies them more. No one explains how or why anyone could act like its leaders and population do. Until now. I wrote Understanding North Korea: Demystifying the World's Most Misunderstood Country to explain the situation there. Many books and articles cover…

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Leadership opportunities in North Korea for U.S. Presidents

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH6nQhss4Yc[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtYdjbpBk6A[/youtube] Memorable, effective words: Ich bin ein Berliner! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Two American Presidents were able to strike public relations coups with speeches in Berlin. In both cases they had limited ability to influence the Soviets, though they had great ability to speak to the people on the front lines of the Cold War. I understand their words resonated strongly with them. Few wanted the division through Europe, particularly separating Berlin from West Germany. Probably everyone questions the motives of those who did. The wall's existence -- barring millions of people from something so basic as…

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Vaclav Havel and freedom; perhaps I was wrong

Since Vaclav Havel died the day Kim Jong Il's death was announced, and that the two of them sat on different sides of totalitarian rule, many articles mention them together. Havel played a significant role in dismantling one regime. Kim maintained his. My series on North Korean strategy concluded with limited methods to change North Korea. My limited number of ideas in North Korea makes me wonder if I might also not have found many ideas in Czechoslovakia too. I haven't studied Czechoslovakia or his activity so I can't speak knowledgeably about them, but something worked if they brought about…

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Understanding Kim Jong Il from a systems perspective, and what to do now

Reading the spate of articles on Kim Jong Il and North Korea, I've seen what look from my perspective misinterpretations. Reporters repeatedly succumb to ascribing to the leader what I consider properties of the system. I think they adopt a great-man model that says if something is working, someone must be making it happen. With only Kim Jong Il or Kim Il Sung around, it must be them. Misallocating causes to events leads to ineffective or counterproductive strategies to act on them. I'll illustrate with two New Yorker articles, not because they misallocate most, but because they do least. In…

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What comes next for North Korea?

Niels Bohr aptly said "prediction is very difficult, especially of the future." The main question now is what will happen next. As expected, state media named Kim Jung Il's son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor. I've read speculation that unrest or power struggles may follow. I predict not. My series on North Korea strategy concluded that its power structure relies on stability and loyalty. Not only does its top leader depend on it, the whole power structure does too. I wouldn't expect systemic change despite the opportunity. I don't know details of who might stand to gain or lose, but…

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On the death of an unpopular leader

I have read some people pleased with the death of someone they consider responsible for bad things, though muted relative to the rejoicing I saw at the death of Osama Bin Laden in the United States. Perhaps desired change will come, but I don't see what one could call good, even if you don't like him. To those who wanted him punished, he isn't being punished. Everybody dies. And as for what happens next, change can happen in many directions, not just ones you hope for. J.R.R. Tolkein's words on death of someone disliked seem relevant when I hear someone…

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Kim Jung Il died today

North Korean television reported Kim Jung Il died. As the BBC reports The announcer, wearing black, made the emotional announcement on state-run television North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has died at the age of 69, state-run television has announced. Mr Kim, who has led the communist nation since the death of his father in 1994, died on a train while visiting an area outside the capital, the announcement said. He suffered a stroke in 2008 and was absent from public view for months. His designated successor is believed to be his third son, Kim Jong-un, who is thought to be…

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North Korea strategy: a toy proposal to promote thought

North Korea's uniquely extreme isolation and disparity of power and wealth means you have to think of it differently than most other countries. Today I'll present a toy idea not for serious consideration as is, but to provoke thought and promote new, potentially effective ideas or improve other plans. I call it a toy idea so no one accidentally takes it seriously on its own, but plays with it to help generate other ideas. Here are the main ideas leading to it North Korean power is concentrated to probably a few dozen people. However much others may dislike their decisions,…

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Pictures of North Korea, part 9: the Grand People’s Study House

Today's pictures were from the Grand People's Study House, a giant library overlooking the Taedong River, with the Juche Tower on the other side. Sorry for how long some captions are. I formatted them to be more readable but Wordpress seems to ignore the formatting. I hope you can read them okay anyway. Nearly all big public buildings we visited had big statues of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jung Il, or both. The statues nearly always represent them as paternal, optimistic, smiling, or displaying some emotion conducive to leadership. Some looked magnificent. After a few you got bored with them…

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The Method: three exercises to transform your life, part 3

The third exercise comes in two parts also. First you think of emotions you'd prefer to the ones listed in the previous exercise. Second you think of environments, beliefs, and behaviors to create those emotions. You think of the emotions first because they are the roots of your values and what creates meaning and purpose. By listing what you can't or won't do in the previous exercise, you assure yourself you won't do anything you consider wrong or don't want to. By starting with your emotions, you know you'll be doing things consistent with your values, meaning, and purpose. The…

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North Korea strategy: what you can do

To close out this fifteen-part series on strategy, what can one person as an individual do? First, I recommend considering you may be offering people unsolicited advice based on judgments they don't agree with if you, say, waltz into the country and tell people there you are going to help them make their lives better. Now matter how sure you are that you will help them, if they didn't invite you to help, the people you want to help will likely view you otherwise -- perhaps condescending, patronizing, or meddling. They may well have justification. Actions I would recommend. Learn…

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The Method: three exercises to transform your life, part 2

Yesterday's exercise was to list a couple areas in your life you want to improve. Today's exercise is to view the areas from the perspective of the Model. Exercise 2 Part 1 Write on a piece of paper in four different lines, the words "Old environment:," "Old beliefs:," "Old emotions:," and "Old behaviors:," like so: Old environments: Old beliefs: Old emotions: Old behaviors: Then for each area on your life you want to improve, fill out each of the four elements of the relevant emotional cycles. The idea is to break up something complex into simpler parts that are easier…

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North Korea strategy: reducing domestic support

If sunshine is the best disinfectant, then giving the North Korean people the same access that the rest of the world has to information about their country, its history, and the world would probably be the best strategy for change. Their compliance with their government effectively supports it more than anything else. That compliance makes sense, despite it appearing from our perspective against their long-term interests. Not complying can cost dearly. From what I hear The country's network of informants surpasses that of the East German Stasi. The government punishes your family members for your actions. Punishments can be unilateral…

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The Method: three exercises to transform your life, part 1

You want to improve your life. I'm about to present three great exercises that help -- you could say one exercise in three parts. My seminars cover them over the course of the first day, with a fourth follow-up if time permits (which I link to at the end of the third exercise here). People report finding them deceptively simple for how much they help. They create a structure that makes it easy to understand otherwise complex and emotionally laden parts of your life. They also build cumulatively. They also start great conversations and form bonds between the people who…

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North Korean strategy: increasing interaction

I've written at length on this page on how I think direct interactions between North Korean people and people from the rest of the world increase communication and understanding between the two groups. I mentioned in my post on the ethics on visiting North Korea that I expect increasing tourism will open the country. I think such interactions could change North Korea, mainly by bringing new information to the population. The North Korean people comply with their government's systems, effectively supporting it. The government creates that support with propaganda. The histories of North Korea, its leaders, South Korea, and the…

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The heart of freedom, part 2

Yesterday I wrote about what I called the heart of freedom, stating that being able to choose your beliefs was more important than being able to change your environment. I quoted Viktor Frankl stating that being able to choose your beliefs was a freedom that could never be taken away. What does that freedom get you? "Just" feelings? Or does it get you more than that? He followed up yesterday's quote with When we are no longer able to change a situation – just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer – we are challenged to change ourselves.…

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The heart of freedom

Viktor Frankl, whom the Nazis captured and imprisoned as a slave laborer in concentration camps including Auschwitz and Dachau, perhaps best clarifies and shows that you can feel free independently of physical constraints and that feeling free gives you all the value of being free. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's…

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North Korean strategy: reducing the risk to North Korean decision makers

I have to be careful in this post. Parts of it will sound distasteful so some. But the basic idea is the same as witness protection programs for criminals. As a society we have decided that at times we will protect criminals for their cooperation to achieve more important outcomes. North Korea's decision-makers are not criminals (everything they do is probably legal). I'm just using the analogy to explain. I noted something I believe motivates North Korea's leaders more than anything else -- from their perspective consequences of failure include their deaths as well as those of their families and…

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North Korean strategy: China

One place I could see changing things in North Korea is its relationship with China. I'm sure the lack of knowledge I show in this post will make me look ignorant, but I'll share anyway. Most of what I know about relations between China and North Korea come from three sites The Council on Foreign Relations' report The China-North Korea Relationship The Council on Foreign Relations' report The Six-Party Talks on North Korea's Nuclear Program Wikipedia's article People's Republic of China–North Korea relations The first CFR report seems to cover the main topics well. I'll distill what seem the most…

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North Korean strategy: starting points for successful change

I've described a system where when all actors act in their interests, everybody loses, except perhaps a few dozen decision-makers in North Korea. I've described what I think won't substantively change the situation in North Korea. Yesterday I wrote about what wouldn't change things. One of the greatest lessons I learned in business school applies here, as well as to all so-called moral problems: If the system leads to only undesired outcomes, change the system. Changing a system rarely happens by changing one part of it unless the system depends on that part. To understand systems, I know of no…

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North Korean Strategy: what won’t change things

Before suggesting ideas that I believe can change things, I'll post some things I think won't change much in the long term. I pointed out what appears the dominant strategy for North Korean decision-makers Stabiility: to maintain its geographical dominance Loyalty: to maintain its support from its citizens All other decisions are subordinate to this strategy or irrelevant. I expect the North Korean government will resist any action that threatens those two principles. And I expect only actions that affect those points will make much difference (though many small actions in other areas may collectively make a big difference). I…

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