Great Leader, Dear Leader: Demystifying North Korea Under the Kim Clan

Great Leader, Dear Leader is an absorbing exposé of North Korea under the Kim clan – Great Leader Kim Il Sung and his son, Dear Leader Kim Jong Il. It traces the origin of the regime’s ideology and investigates its attempts to fill the empty state coffers through missile technology sales and other unorthodox schemes. It examines the regime’s relations with South Korea, the countrywide famine and the juche ideal, the “military first” policy, and the nuclear weapons program.

One of a very few Western journalists to visit North Korea in 2004, author Bertil Lintner demystifies rather than demonizes the least known of the “Axis of Evil” countries by taking us behind the wall of secrecy and the many misperceptions that surround North Korea. He interviews Koreans from both sides of the divided peninsula, as well as ethnic Koreans in Japan and leading Korea experts, to present an intriguing analysis of what has been happening in this shrouded country, and what we might expect in the future.

About the Author

BERTIL LINTNER, a long-time correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, has written many books., including Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency since 1948 and Blood Brothers: Crime, Business and Politics in Asia. In 2004, he received an award for excellence in reporting about North Korea from the Society of Publishers in Asia.