The DPR Korea is a state that often makes headlines, mostly for negative reasons, yet simultaneously seems to evoke a peculiar fascination through travel reports by adventurous bloggers. An absolutist dictatorship with an almost religious cult of hero worship, a quasi-communist ideology of its own unique quality, and a global political influence that far exceeds the country's actual size are just a few of the impressions associated with North Korea. It is therefore necessary to delve deeper into this exceptional country, which is extraordinary in many often negative respects.

Examinations are generally completed through a combination of presentations and written assignments. Topics for presentations will be assigned via email. Please submit topic preferences by April 30, 2025, to vandenboom.dirk@gmail.com. Presentation groups will consist of a maximum of three students.

Topic List and Schedule:

Friday

• 13:00-13:30: Introduction
• 13:30-15:00: Topic 1: Overview of Korea's Political History Before the Division (From Joseon to the colonial era, effects of Japanese colonial rule and its end with Japan's surrender, the situation at the end of World War II, the role of Kim Il-sung during the war)
• 15:00-15:30: Break
• 15:30-17:00: Topic 2: The Division of Korea and Kim Il-sung’s Rule (up to 1994) (UN efforts, failure of negotiations, differing developments in North and South Korea, Kim Il-sung's establishment of power, creation of the state apparatus and party system, development of the cult of personality, economic progress, succession preparations, relations with the Soviet Union and China, relationship with South Korea)
  
  
  

Saturday

• 09:00-10:30: Topic 3: The Era of Kim Jong-il’s Rule (1994–2011) (Kim Jong-il’s assumption of power, consolidation of personal rule, the 1994-1998 famine and its consequences, South Korea's “Sunshine Policy” and North Korea's response, economic reforms and ideological changes, relations with China)
• 10:30-11:00: Break
• 11:00-12:30: Topic 4: Kim Jong-un’s Era (2011 to Present) (Details about the leader, assumption of power, nuclear weapons policy and its consequences, socio-economic developments, relations with South Korea and China, military pact with Russia)
• 12:30-13:30: Lunch Break
• 13:30-15:00: Topic 5: The North Korean Military and Involvement in the Ukraine War (Structure, size, and potential military strength, societal militarization and the role of conscription, border situation with South Korea, deployment of North Korean troops in the Ukraine war)
• 15:00-15:30: Break
• 15:30-17:00: Topic 6: North Korea's Economy (Economic structure, state-centralized supply under Kim Il-sung, economic liberalization out of necessity, sending workers abroad, smuggling and sanctions evasion, attempts and failures of economic cooperation with South Korea, the role of foreign currency in the North Korean economy)
  
  
  

Sunday

• 09:00-10:30: Topic 7: Resistance and Survival of North Korean Civilians (The North Korean surveillance state and its tools, mobility within the country, foreign travel, telecommunications and internet, escape to South Korea or China and the consequences, state propaganda in everyday life)
• 10:30-11:00: Break
• 11:30-12:30: Final Discussion

Kurs im HIS-LSF