KORE2028
THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Academic Year 2015/16
First Semester Seminar Schedule
INSTRUCTOR: Dr Victor Teo ( [email protected] )
B0538, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus
Office Hour ( Please email me for appointment )
DURATION:
2-Hour Seminar per week
TIME:
Thursday (16.30 hrs – 18.20 hrs)
VENUE:
CPD3.04
CREDIT:
6
ASSESSMENT: 100% Course Based
 50 % Individual Research Essay OR Fieldtrip Reflections
( Due 1st December)
 20 % Class Discussion / Presentation (Excluding Attendance)
 30 % Class Quiz ( MCQ in-class assessment )
Course Description
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is often portrayed negatively in the
international media for a variety of reasons. President George Bush has labeled North Korea
as a member of “axis of evil”. Amongst other things, the DPRK is alleged to have carried out
a clandestine nuclear weapons program, involved in underground criminal activities,
suspected of state-sponsored terrorist activities and generally perceived to be an outcast in
international society. Given DPRK’s orientation as a closed society and general defiance to
these allegations, the image of DPRK is therefore even more mysterious.
This course is an introductory course that aims to demystify North Korea as a country and a
society. The approach undertaken to examine topics within the course is historical and
thematic. The course begins by examining the genesis of the DPRK through a survey of the
conditions leading up to Korean War and the subsequent stalemate that led to the division of
Korea. It then examines the DPRK’s development under the leadership of Kim IL Sung, Kim
Jong Il and Kim Jong-Eun from the 1950s till present. In doing so, the course examines not
only DPRK politics, society and economy but also contextualize DPRK’s development
against the larger geopolitical framework. In the second half of the course, students would be
invited to consider a range of special thematic topics in relation to the DPRK for examine
DPRK’s relations with China, Refugees and Human rights and the question of reunification.
Optional Fieldtrip - For the academic year 2015/2016, students would have the rare option
to visit the DPRK on a field study trip lead by Dr Victor Teo in conjunction with another
NGO. This trip is optional and hence organized on a self-funded basis and will be conducted
during the reading week. Highlights of the trip would include two days of engagement and
activities at the Kim IL Sung University and the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies
where we have various interactions (lectures, sports matches, discussions and outings) with
North Korean students and faculty members. These activities are NOT allowed on normal
tourist visas. On the 10 Oct 2015, the DPRK celebrates the 70 Anniversary of the Party
Foundation Day. This is the biggest holiday in the DPRK and there is a possibility that we
will be watching the military parade by Kim IL Sung Square. We will also be visiting sites
that would be off the normal tourist agenda. Details of the trip will be confirmed nearer to
date but we will have a rough draft of the itinerary by 31 July 2015.
LECTURE DATE
S1: 3 SEP 2015
S2: 10 SEP 2015
S3: 17 SEP 2015
S4: 24 SEP 2015
1 OCT 2015
S5: 5 OCT 2015
( Monday)
( 7pm – 9pm )
S6: 15 OCT 2015
S7: 22 OCT 2015
SEMINAR TITLE
Course Overview & Introduction
The Korean War & the Division of Korea
The Kim Il Sung’s Years
The Era of Kim Jong Il: Arduous March &
Beyond
Public Holiday
DPRK under Kim Jong Eun
Brought Forward
from 8 Nov 2015
(Thursday)
READING WEEK – No Class
(DPRK Fieldtrip – Optional – See Details)
S8: 29 OCT 2015
Research Exercise
Special Topics (1)
Human Rights and Refugees from the DPRK
Student Presentation
S9: 5 Nov 2015
Special Topics (2)
DPRK in International Relations
Student Presentation
S10: 12 Nov 2015
Special Topics (3)
Everyday Life in North Korea
Student Presentation
S11: 19 Nov 2015
S12: 26 Nov 2015
Special Topics (4)
The Prospects & Challenges of
Reunification
Student Presentation
Concluding Seminar
Key Texts
1. Andrei Lankov (2013) The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed
Stalinist Utopia, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013
2. William Stueck, Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and
Strategic History, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2002
3. Various Readings to be distributed electronically
Assessment
1.
Research Essay (50%) – 2000 words (Due – 1st Dec 2015)
Please submit hard copy to SMLC School Office for Dr Victor Teo (KORE2028)
& Upload to www.turnitin.com ( Class ID: 10281911 / Enrollment password:
northkorea )
(1) With reference to your research, discuss how likely or unlikely you think that the
DPRK would give up its clandestine nuclear weapons and ballistic missile
program. Support your answer with concrete evidence.
(2) What are the prospects and challenges for Korea’s reunification? Discuss with
particular reference to the positions of the Great Powers (US, China, Japan and
Russia) on this issue as well as the considerations of Seoul and Pyongyang.
(3) What in your opinion is the greatest threat to the DPRK’s security today and
why? Discuss.
(4) Discuss the opportunities and challenges the DPRK faces in her relationship with
China from end of the Cold War till present.
(5) “The imposition of Sanctions is the best way to force the North Korean Regime to
improve its human rights record”. Discuss
OR
For Students who are going on the DPRK Fieldtrip (50%) –
2000 words (Due – 1st Dec 2015)
(6) Please submit a learning journal of about 2000 words to reflect what you have
learned from your trip. Please discuss in particular with reference to one or more of
the following topics:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Everyday Life in the DPRK
Visual Culture of the DPRK
North Korea’s International Image: Expectations and Reality
Any other aspect that you might want to write on
Students on the fieldtrip can also elect to do a Research Essay from the topics listed
above.
2.
Class Discussion & Presentation (20%)
Assigned Groups are to prepare a presentation on the topic for the seminar discussion.
The topics would be assigned by the instructor during the initial weeks of the course.
The grade given will be a collective grade. Students shall endeavour to ensure that the
division of work is done as fairly as possible.
3.
Class Quiz
There will be class quiz consisting of 30 MCQ questions.
General Reading
S1.
Narushige Michishita, (2010) North Korea’s Military and Diplomatic
Campaigns, 1966-2008, London and New York: Routledge
Robert Myers (2001) Korea in the Cross Currents: A Century of Struggle and
the Crisis of Reunification, New York: Palgrave Macmillan
S2.
The Korean War and the Division of Korea
William Stueck (2002) Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and
Strategic History, Princeton University Press, 2002 , chapter 1 – 3
James Jongsoo Lee (2006) The Partition of Korea after World War II: A
Global History, Palgrave Macmillan
S3.
The Kim Il Sung Years
Andrei Lankov (2013) The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed
Stalinist Utopia, Oxford: Oxford University Press, chapter 1
S4.
The Era of Kim Jong Il: Arduous March & Beyond
Andrei Lankov (2013) The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed
Stalinist Utopia, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, chapter 2 & 3
Sung Chul Kim (2006), North Korea under Kim Jong Il, From Consolidation
to Systemic Dissonance, New York: SUNY Press, chapter 3 & 4
RAND (2002) Sunshine in Korea: The South Korean Debate over Policies
towards North Korea, California: RAND Corp: 2002
The Dollar Superstore, Vanity Fair, August 5 2009 Edition ( distributed in
class)
S5.
DPRK under Kim Jung Un
Jae Cheol Kim, The Political Economy of Chinese Investment in North Korea,
Asian Survey, Vol. 46, Issue 6. pp 898-916
Victor Cha, A North Korean Spring ? The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 35,
No.1 pp. 7_24 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0163660X.2012.641728,
Gregory Moore, How North Korea Threatens China’s Interests, International
Relations of the Asia-Pacific Vol. 8, (2008) pp1 – 29
S8.
Human Rights and Refugees from the DPRK
Tim Beal, The Struggle Against American Power, London: Pluto Press, 2005,
Chapter Five
Korean Refugees in Northeast China, Asian Survey, Vol. 44 No. 6,
(November/December 2006)
S9.
DPRK in International Relations
Sheena Chestnut, Illicit Activity and Proliferation: North Korean Smuggling
Networks, International Security, Vol. 32, No. 1 ( Summer, 2007 ) pp80-111
Norman Levin and Yon-Sup Han, Sunshine in Korea: The South Korean
Debate over policies towards North Korea, RAND monograph, 2002
D. Goma, The Chinese-Korean Border Dispute: An Analysis of the a
Contested Border Frontier, Asian Survey, Vol. 46, No. 6
(November/December 2006), pp. 867-880
S10.
Everyday Life in the DPRK
Charles Robert Jenkins, (2008) The Reluctant Communist, California:
University of California Press
Daniel Tudor and James Pearson (2015), North Korea Confidential: Private
Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors, Tuttle
Publishing
S10.
The Prospects and Challenges of Reunification
Eui-Gak Hwang (2010) The Search for a United Korea, New York, London:
Springer
Samuel Kim (2006) The Koreas and the Great Powers, New York: Cambridge,
2006 (relevant chapters)