The End of North Korea

by Nicholas Eberstadt

The political partition of the Korean nation, to which the modern world has grown so accustomed, will not last indefinitely. The permanent two-state system in Korea is, asserts Nicholas Eberstadt, an unsustainable proposition. In this volume he demonstrates how the events unfolding in the Korean peninsula over the past decade have been signaling, with mounting pitch and power, that the division of Korea has already reached the limits of its viability. At some point in the years ahead, he avers, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which rules North Korea, will likely disappear from the political stage, and Korea will then reenter the international community as a united nation.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Massimo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was unfortunately written at the right time in the wrong place. The thesis Eberstadt puts forward is compelling and in my research, was plausible at the time, but obviously the resillience of the DPRK’s leadership (the fact that the middle class and intellegencia are more than content with the regime speaks to the lack of any prospect of regime change) plus the collapse of Chimerica ultimately made this book’s thesis age somewhat poorly. The W. Bush admin didn’t really understand the book either, as some prominent officials claimed that as the guide to DPRK policy, despite the observations of the book not resembling what Bush was able to turn out. Obama’s admin kind of understood it better but read the ‘room’ terribly. As for the contents of the book, it starts off rather strong but because eberstadt mostly comes from an economic background, it can become tedious with its thourough explanations of the economic situations of both North and South Korea at the time