Inside North Korea's Theocracy: The Rise and Sudden Fall of Jang Song-Thaek

Inside North Korea's Theocracy: The Rise and Sudden Fall of Jang Song-Thaek. By Ra Jong-yil. Translated by Jinna Park. New York: SUNY Press, 2019, 200 pp. (ISBN: 9781438473727) doi: 10.18399/acta.2020.23.1.009

There is a saying in North Korea that the leader is like the sun: too close and you burn, too far and you freeze. Inside North Korea's Theocracy: The Rise and Sudden Fall of Jang Song-Thaek captures that delicate balance which Jang Song-Thaek (Chang Söngt'aek) struggled to maintain from the moment he met Kim Kyong-Hui (Kim Kyönghui)-the daughter of Kim Il Sung (Kim Ilsöng) and sister of Kim Jong Il (Kim Chöngil)-the woman he would later marry. However hard you may try to maintain this balance, the Kim family will dispose of you as soon as they see the need. Those who doubt this can look at how the North Korean government makes use of NGOs and aid agencies,...