North Korea

North Korea

North Korea, the ‘Hermit Kingdom’, is the world's most secretive state. Leaders-for-life Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il have pursued reclusive and repressive policies throughout the 1990s and up until today, even as the country has enacted limited economic reforms, increased its engagement with regional powers China, South Korea and Japan, and entered into a protracted diplomatic battle with the United States over the issue of nuclear weapons.

As one of the nations comprising George W. Bush's ‘axis of evil’ and a suspected nuclear power in an already tense region, North Korea has been the subject of intense attention recently. Now for the first time there is a comprehensive compendium of political and economic developments in the country ...