Description
Book Synopsis“A meaty, fast-paced portrait of North Korean society, economy, politics and foreign policy.” -Foreign Affairs
The definitive account of North Korea, its veiled past and uncertain future, from the former Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council
In The Impossible State, seasoned international-policy expert and lauded scholar Victor Cha pulls back the curtain on this controversial and isolated country, providing the best look yet at North Korea''s history, the rise of the Kim family dynasty, and the obsessive personality cult that empowers them. He illuminates the repressive regime''s complex economy and culture, its appalling record of human-rights abuses, and its belligerent relationship with the United States, and analyzes the regime''s major security issues—from the seemingly endless war with its southern neighbor to its frightening nuclear ambitions—all in light of the destabilizing effects of K
