Andrei Lankov The Real North Korea

On January 20th, 1981, in his inaugural address, former President Ronald Reagan said, “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” At the time he gave his memorable speech, he was referring to our current state of affairs in America. Sadly, his truth still rings true today, especially with regards to the authoritative regime in North Korea. Over twenty-five million citizens are at the mercy of a ruthless and relentless government that encompasses only a minute amount of the total population. What global policies and relationships can influence North Korea in a positive way? In this essay, we will first look in depth into Andrei Lankov’s book The Real North Korea to fully comprehend the predicament of North Korea,

First, there are the soft-liners, those “who believe that if the Pyongyang regime is given sufficient monetary rewards, political concessions, and security guarantees, it will ultimately abandon is nuclear ambitions and perhaps revive its economy through Chinese-Style reforms—thus becoming a “normal state”” (Lankov, 231). On quite the opposite end of the spectrum, are the accurately labeled hard-liners. These Americans, Lankov points out, are “hawkish believers in the power of sanctions and pressure… They assume that pressure will eventually either cause Pyongyang to denuclearize or push it to extinction (or both)” (Lankov, 232). With regards to simplification, soft-liners are just that, they want a softer, non-conflict approach with the hope of them surrendering their nuclear arsenal. Conversely, hard-liners want to fight, to force the disassembling of weaponry or the destruction of North

Andrei Lankov brings to light a new point, one that the world is overlooking. Whilst the foreign territories, such as the United States and South Korea, have thought about the effects North Korea could conceivably have on them, we forget the effects it’s having on itself. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is not made up solely of military and politicians, but of people. Civilians. The real threat here is not North Korea as a whole, but the problems the North Korean elite are making. Failing to remember this fails to acknowledge the ones that are terrorized the most, the citizens. “Only the North Koreans themselves can change North Korea… any effort that increases North Koreans’ exposure to the outside world should be welcomed” (Lankov, 242 and