Some Authors focused on the North Korean society (such as Andrei Lankov and Waldemar Dziak) tend to present the North Korean nomenclature as a group of persons related to the Kim family and to the North Korean communist Party. Unlike these brilliant and hard-working authors, I would like to demonstrate…

The controversial issue of North Korean rights is one of the most important concerns over the potential humanitarian assistance to North Korea. Many reports regarding this issue are published. One of them is the U.N.  report of the Commission of Inquiry (UN COI) which considered that many violations are still…

In the North Korean system, the leadership is the key factor which will be responsible for the maintenance of the regime and of the power of the North Korean elites. The mission of safeguarding the regime aims at avoiding any collapse in the country. North Korea has a so called…

Recently North Korean (also know as Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-DPRK) politicians try to show that their country is normal despite of the purge of Jang Sung Thaek and Choe Ryong Hae. Before his execution, Jang Sung Thaek was highly implicated in the management of entertainment activities. He was the…

In North Korea there is no freedom, as we do understand in western culture. There are rather duties which should be realized by North Koreans. Back in history North Korea has long been a kind of paradise for its citizens. The country was even richer than South Korea in the…

As of 2014, many changes are being operated in the North Korean leadership through changes within the key political organisations of the country (personnal changes in the Secretariat of the Central Committee and in the National Defense Commission have been done in April 2014). The North Korean leadership is composed…

Like in the case of Ukraine, the European Union is taking actions against North Korea and blacklisted officials and companies related to these officials. The blacklisted officials includes Kim Tong Un and Jon Il Chon (responsible of the 38 office of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers Party), Ri…

Since Kim Jong-il passed away in December 2011, on one hand it seems that new elites are appearing at the head of North Korea. However these people were not belonging to the former flagship structures of the North Korean system. On the other hand, from the standpoint of economical issues,…

Since Kim Jong Il passed away in December 2011, concerns about the stability of the North Korean leadership have been numerous, but so far the smooth continuation of political and economic affairs has been a key priority. The North Korea-watching community has therefore been taken aback by the rumored removal…

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. The core of Confucianism is humanism, the belief that human beings are teachable and that we can reach the harmony in a peaceful way. Confucianism focuses on the cultivation of virtue and maintenance…

Zgodnie z zapowiedzią, po nawiązaniu partnerskich relacji z European Institute for Asian Studies, z którym współorganizowaliśmy w grudniu tego roku konferencję w Parlamencie Europejskim, rozpoczynamy publikacje tekstów naszych brukselskich partnerów. Dziś aktualny komentarz Glyn Forda dotyczący sytuacji w Korei Północnej: The sudden death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il…