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North & South Korean culture has had a big impact on he rest of the world. This title allows readers the opportunity to travel to this unique region of the world and find out about the customs, religions, music, and fashion, among other things, that makes

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Chapters: Juche, Culture of North Korea, International Friendship Exhibition, Women in North Korea, Pyongyang, Grand People's Study House, Children of the Secret State, Sungeoguk, Mass Games, Public Holidays in North Korea, Liberation Day, a State of Mind, Sea of Blood, North Korean Calendar, Committee for Cultural Relations With Foreign Countries, Sek Studio. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 60. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Juche Idea (Korean pronunciation: approximately "joo-cheh") is the official state ideology of North Korea. It teaches that "man is the master of everything and decides everything," and that the Korean people are the masters of Korea's revolution. Juche is a component of Kimilsungism, North Korea's political system. The word literally means "main body" or "subject"; it has also been translated in North Korean sources as "independent stand" and the "spirit of self-reliance". The first known reference to Juche was a speech given by Kim Il-sung on December 28, 1955, titled "On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work" in rejection of the policy of de-Stalinization (bureaucratic self-reform) in the Soviet Union. In this speech, Kim said that "Juche means Chosun's revolution" (Chosun being the traditional name for Korea). Hwang Jang-yeop, Kim's top adviser on ideology, discovered this speech later in the 1950s when Kim sought to develop his own version of Marxism-Leninism. The Juche Idea itself gradually emerged as a systematic ideological doctrine under the political pressures of the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s. The word "Juche" also began to appear in untranslated form in English-language North Korean works from around 1965. Kim Il-sung outlined the three fundamental principles of Juche in his April 14, 1965, speech ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=225153 ... Read more

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This book provides an introduction to the rival politics, ideologies and political cultures of South and North Korea. Written at an accessible level for undergraduates, it is suitable as a main text for courses on Korea politics, and Korean society, and as a supplementary text for courses on Asian politics, Asian societies and comparative politics. Besides examining the formation of the two Korean states, and the nature and development of their ideologies and institutions, the book also explores the involvement of the Korean people in politics, and how their political outlook is shaped by, and expressed through, education, gender and sexuality, and resistance and protest. Unlike most other books on Korea, which treat South and North Korea separately, in this book each chapter considers its theme in relation to South and North Korea together, thereby showing how rival regimes have taken differing routes to social and political development.

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This unique book provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of life in North Korea today. Drawing on decades of insider knowledge and experience, noted experts Ralph Hassig and Kongdan Oh explore a world few outsiders can imagine. In vivid detail, the authors describe how the secretive and authoritarian government of Kim Jong-il shapes every aspect of its citizen's lives, how the command socialist economy has utterly failed, and how ordinary individuals struggle to survive through small-scale capitalism. North Koreans remain hungry and oppressed, yet the outside world is slowly filtering in, and the book concludes by urging the United States to flood North Korea with information so that its people can make decisions based on truth rather than their dictator's ubiquitous propaganda. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Interesting anecdotes, but filled with lots of vague numbers
I thought I would have a read as I work in applied economics.I have to say I hardly write reviews.The Hidden People of North Korea book had so many generalizations and was so one sided that I could not not write a review ....

Quite a few of the numbers are vague and without reference ' 'arms exports contribute tens or hundreds of millions of dollars a year as well...'' (p90)and the passages where like from a story book and not a non-fiction book 'One of the largest cases of North Korean smuggling was revealed on a and stormy night in April 2003..." (p91). Tens of millions as in 20M to hundreds of millions as in 900M, 20M to 900M that is a huge magnitude.There is no reference to a source even to ground their estimation in.'Stormy night' is a cliche that broke away from the tone of the book. The more I read the more painful it was. "... North Korean presents the appearance of a large cult..." (p190) or "The members of the privileged class of three million (the upper half of the core class) appear to support the regime actively on the premise that they would not otherwise have a good a life".I find it hard to look at the book as a soundly researched, academic work with hard facts and a balanced view of North Korea after off handed comments like that.You can't just call a country a cult or say just because 3M people (where did this 3M come from) 'have a good life' they support regime (maybe you could say 3M are members of the party, actively registered in pro regime activities, or a host of other things, but just say on the basis that they are living well they support the regime is hard to connect the dots on that assumption).I thought this book needed more balance...

To be fair, I did find some interesting anecdotes about individuals in North Korea.

Harvard Political Review has written a review on the book as well.

Understanding a Closed Society
This is the most authoritative and complete report yet available outside the hermit kingdom on life in North Korea. I have known "Katy" Oh for some years as a top American analyst of Korean issues, and this husband and wife product is a tour de force indeed considering how difficult the subject. With this deeper understanding at hand, perhaps we will hear fewer simplistic assumptions about the North in the future. The Hassigs persuasively suggest that the foreign aid we and South Korea have provided actually served to help prolong the regime. As one of those who predicted Kim Chong-il's reign would be short after the death of the Great Leader, it is clear to me now why so many of us were wrong, and why this anachronistic closed totalitarianism may well even survive his own death. Highly readable, thorough, and well written.

A Reference Book
North Korea comes to the world's attention only in connection with nuclear and missile programs and its recurring humanitarian crises. The rest of the time, thanks in large part to the Kim regime's policy of secrecy and isolation, North Korea is a hidden country.

The Hidden People of North Korea lifts the veil on the everyday life of ordinary citizens in this most secretive state. The two authors, as they make clear, are not welcomed in Pyongyang, and they have no sympathy for the Kim regime. But they are compassionate about the Korean people, and they believe the world should know more about their ordeal. They base their analysis on a vast array of written sources, quoting from books, articles, and weblog entries written in English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, French and German. The book's second author also conducted interviews with about two hundred North Korean defectors who made their way to South Korea since the late 1990s. They also quote frequently from domestic North Korean sources, as a mean of illustrating the information environment in which the North Korean people live.

The one reservation that I have about the wealth of information that went into this book is that the authors do not discriminate between sources. They quote equally from the draft manuscript written by Kim Jong-il's adopted daughter, who defected to France in 1992, or from the detailed accounts of Andrei Lankov, a respected Russian scholar trained at Kim Il-sung University, and from colorful characters who wrote popular accounts of their experience in North Korea with titles such as "I was Kim Jong-il's Bodyguard" or "The Most Revered General, Lover of Nukes and Women". For instance, the testimony of Kim's former Japanese cook, according to whom every grain of rice destined for the Great Leader's table is handpicked and inspected for quality and shape, must be taken with a pinch of salt. To be true, the authors are aware of some of these biases, and they note for instance that "because defectors are usually paid for giving interviews, they may be tempted to exaggerate their experiences in North Korea to make their testimony more marketable."

But again, strange things happen in North Korea, and dispatches from the local media range from the frightening to the bizarre. Consider the following:

- "On the seventh anniversary of Kim's death in 2001, 'three beautiful birds' landed on the windows of an apartment in the port city of Nampo and perched there for one hour and forty minutes, blinking at the wall portrait of Kim Il-sung."

- When forest fires threatened trees covered with slogans carved by Kim Il-sung's band of revolutionary fighters back in the 1930s and 1940s, "seventeen soldiers did not hesitate to throw themselves into the fire, in the flower of their youth, to protect a slogan tree that is the treasure of the years to come."

- Newsprints with photographs of the Kims must never be torn or crumpled. In October 1997, North Koreans discovered a copy of Nodong Sinmun with a photograph of Kim Il-sung in the wastebasket of a dormitory where South Korean workers were staying while building the KEDO lightwater nuclear reactor; as a consequence, they were confined to their quarters for several days.

The book is especially strong at analyzing the information environment, defined as the "range of information available to North Koreans and how that information challenges and shapes their beliefs". Information processing involves selective exposure, selective attention, selective understanding, and selective remembering. As the country opens itself slightly to foreigners, it has erected a mosquito net of censorship to let some information in while preventing unwanted influences from turning people's heads.

The authors' policy recommendation is to work on this information environment by targeting the North Korean people with information about their government and the outside world, and to let them choose how to act on that information. They suggest that humanitarian aid should be offered to the North Korean government contingent on its acceptance of strict foreign monitoring, preferably by Korean-speaking aid workers, and clear labeling of the aid's origin. In this way the foreign aid will become part of the foreign information program.

It will be hard for this book to find its public. Government officials won't find a discussion on ongoing diplomatic negotiations under the framework of the six-party talks. Intelligence people are, one hopes so, already familiar with the information contained in the book, or they don't deal with North Korea. Business people are invited to follow the "first rule of investing in North Korea": don't. Human right activists often prefer to turn their attention away rather than deal squarely with the last remnants of the communist ideology on earth.

In fact, the problem is that very few people want to know more about North Korea. The country comes in the spotlight only intermittently and only in conjunction with international developments. It may not always be the same. So my advice to busy people is that they don't need to read this book now. Put it on the shelf, save it for the future. And next time North Korea hits the news and people start asking questions, go back to it, and use it as a reference.

Authors Hassig and Oh hit it out of the park again: a must read on North Korea
The ever-growing community of government officials, scholars, and ordinary citizens concerned about North Korea has cause to celebrate the issuance of "The Hidden People of North Korea" by Ralph Hassig and Kongdan Oh.A decade ago, in publishing "North Korea through the Looking Glass," this husband and wife team established themselves as leading observers of North Korea."The Hidden People" reaffirms that status by showcasing their superb ability to synthesize a vast amount of information without policy bias.At the same time, the strengths of Hassigand Oh in sorting out signs of change and training a powerful light on the fault lines between illusion and reality provide the raw material for othersto judge whether North Korea can long survive as we currently know it.

"The Hidden People" is divided into nine chapters.Chapters 2 through 8 focus on Kim Chong-il, his family, and his leadership style; the economic system as it operates in theory and is lived by people on an every day basis; the government's crumbling control of the information environment; human rights issues; and the growing number of defections.Neither the final chapter, "The End Comes Slowly," nor any other offers a significant focus on the strategic questions with which policymakers most often grapple.In this regard, there is very limited attention paid to the country's dependence on weapons of mass destruction, its willingness to proliferate WMD technology, and its inclination (or lack thereof) to abide by disarmament agreements.This matters little, however, because numerous other authors have addressed these issues. ... Read more

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Culture Smart! provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships.

Culture Smart! offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience. Contents include


* customs, values, and traditions
* historical, religious, and political background
* life at home
* leisure, social, and cultural life
* eating and drinking
* do's, don'ts, and taboos
* business practices
* communication, spoken and unspoken


"Culture Smart has come to the rescue of hapless travellers." Sunday Times Travel

"... the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries." Global Travel

"...full of fascinating-as well as common-sense-tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas." Observer

"...as useful as they are entertaining." Easyjet Magazine

"...offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world." New York Times
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Customer Reviews (7)

Outdated and Useless
I can't believe all the good reviews on this book. I recently moved to Korea from the US. I read this entire book and it really was a waste of my time.

South Koreans have progressed quite a bit since this book was first printed and I don't think the reprint really did too much editing. There are a lot of things that are inaccurate or over exaggerated. For instance flip flops, Koreans wear these very often and don't make comments to others who wear them. Drinking in groups of both men and women, again this happens quite often and doesn't seem to be a strange occurrence. The author also laments the fact that most of the deciduous forest have been wiped out. I'm not sure what country he visited, but all the hills around as far as the eye can see are covered in trees. Not reforested but native to the country. I'm not sure if he never left Seoul, but it might behove them to remove this particular comments as it doesn't apply.

Also bothersome was the Author's story about interfering in a domestic dispute. He contends that he should have just minded his own business and not tried to interfere. After all that is the country's culture and really who was he to intervene. So typical of an academic, care more about the keeping things pristine and allowing "nature" to flow than consider assisting another human being. His theory is flawed though. In the story he is obviously older than the instigator, as such, according to the culture, he had every right to intervene and attempt to assist as he is an elder and it is an age defined hierarchy. Just imagine if it was your daughter who was involved in such a situation, do you think the author is providing good advice in stating that we should just leave things alone, even if we know that another human being is possibly getting hurt? After all that's just the culture. At what point does human accountability fall by the way side or are we suppose to enable abuse and ill treatment?

It would behoove the publisher and the author to take another look at the country as it is now, not how it was 10 years ago. It might even help if they actually lived in the country for a while, instead of making generalizations from a brief visit and theory.

An excellent travel guide
We acquired two DVDs and this pocket book in support of a young man deployed and stationed in South Korea.

Upon learning that Michael would be soon leaving us to travel to this beautiful country, we decided to acquire these items to learn where he would be spending the next year of his life.

We are glad to have shared this experience, we learned much about the country, its people, folkloric dance, foods and religion.

If you plan to travel to South Korea and want to arrive with a pocket book in hand that supports your awareness or if you simply want to learn about this country, then this is an excellent choice.

Culture Smart will provide information as to life in South Korea, manners, costumes, religious beliefs, and those little issues that could help you manage your relationships abroad.

good and useful
This books talks a little bit about korean history at the begining, and then it talks about traditions and things to do/not to do in Korea. I really enjoyed reading it.

Korea! Culture Smart
Daughter headed to Korea for a year and I purchased this book for her. Small and concise and full of great information on customs, traditions, do's and don't's for those unfamiliar with the Korean culture. Very informative yet small enough to tote aound and read whenever there were a few minutes. This book would be most helpful to anyone traveling to Korea and wanting to be sure to behave properly and not be offensive simply by doing whatever is done in the United States.

Handy!
This little book has helped me prepare to move to Korea.It is pocket-sized and easy to whip out while waiting in the passport line at the post office (haha).The author tried to balance information between the 2 Koreas, and you definitely get the feeling that he knows what he is talking about. ... Read more

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The publication follows on from the establishment of diplomatic relations with the the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and visits there by scholars from the British Museum and British Library. The papers from the two study days provide a unique insight into North Korean culture. North Korea remains little known to the West and these papers will advance our knowledge and understanding. Contents: This volume presents aspects of North Korean culture, including papers on art, tombs, cinema, dance, literature, and politics by experts in the field including: Jim Hoare, Beth McKillop, Jane Portal, Soyoung Kwon, Hyangjin Lee, Agnita Tennant, and Keith Howard. The book is fully illustrated in colour throughout, together with maps and tables ... Read more

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This collection of articles explores the economic, social and political realities of North Korea and assesses their significance in the future developments of North Korean politics and the potential for Korean unification. This contribution explores the central theme - how long will the North Korean political system and its mass beliefs be able to avoid the tide of democratic revolutions that have swept the communist bloc in the late 1980s? ... Read more

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Not the usual fluff - authoritative and insightful
I met Dr. Park on Air Koryo leaving Pyongyang in May '97 after my 10th trip there.Reading this compilation has been a delightful continuation of that meeting.His insights to the philosophical foundation of Juche, the Kimilsungist system of political thought, are particularly useful and his no-bones-about-it discussion of the nuclear weapons program is eerily unsettling.All of the authors speak Korean and have visited North Korea, lending an authenticity I have found to be rare ... Read more

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For many centuries the residents of the three northern provinces of Korea have long had cultural and linguistic characteristics that have marked them as distinct from their brethren in the central area near the capital and in the southern provinces.Contributors to this book address the problem of amnesia regarding the subjectivity of the northern region of Korea in contemporary, historical, and cultural discourses, which have largely been dominated by grand paradigms, such as modernization theory, the positivist perspective, and Marxism. Through the use of storytelling, linguistic analysis, and journal entries from turn-of-the-century missionaries and traveling Russians in addition to many varieties of unconventional primary sources, they creatively explore unfamiliar terrain while examining the culture, identity, and regional distinctiveness of the northern region and its people.

Sun Joo Kim is a professor of Korean history at Harvard University. She is the author of Marginality and Subversion in Korea. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting, but problematic
This book was just added to the collection of our public library.As I reviewed the reading level and content to make sure we gave it the appropriate classification, I noticed couple problems. Wish we knew about this before we made this purchase.

First, there was a section which described the Korean Jindo dog "as a wild dog from Jindo Island". The last paragraph describes the animal as a "smart, loyal dog" who "loves its owner".Okay, is the dog wild or a pet?The article makes no mention of the domestication of this dog.

Second, author states that the North Korean "government does not allow religion", but allows "some religious groups to make it look like there is religious freedom".What evidence does the author base this statement on?Or is this just her opinion?We should know one way or the other.Later, in a section about schooling there is mention of religious school.Is that just for show as well?

Third, there is also a statement that "few North Koreans have computers".The author explains that this is because government doen't want the "people to get information about the outside world through the internet".Is this really why they don't have computers, or is that perhaps why they don't have internet access?Perhaps they don't have computers because most people don't have any money to spare. Or perhaps the shortage of electricity means that people don't see much point to getting computer.

As with any book, whether intended for research or just informational purposes, the author and publisher have an obligation to be clear as to what is fact and what is not.If it is fact make that clear by siting a source. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Countries and Their Cultures, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 3407 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Covers the broad range of popular religious culture of the United States at the close of the twentieth century. Beliefs, practices, symbols, traditions, movements, organizations, and leaders from the many traditions in the pluralistic American community are represented. Also includes cults and phenomena that drew followers, such as Heaven's Gale and UFOs. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Review of a review
I actually fact-checked for a scholarly book review on this book, and in doing so read the book as well.As someone with only vague knowledge of the history of the two Koreas, it was an informative book on the history of the divide and the various policies the countries have faced, including the somewhat intrusive role of the U.S.I read this book just as North Korea tested its first nuclear weapons in October of 2006.I highly recommend this book not only to those interested in North Korea or East Asian politics, but to everyone.According to the book, the situation is not one that will easily be resolved. ... Read more

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This catalog features spectacular color photographs 179 of the artifacts, maps, art objects, paintings, furnishings, and other rare and beautiful items featured in this 2009 exhibition. The captions are in both English and Korean, but the bulk of the text is in Korean only. ... Read more

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This dissertation investigates some of the possible causes for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) dramatic economic setbacks that began in the early 1990s. Since the DPRK has been at the brink of famine since 1997, the focus of this study has been devoted to the DPRK's agricultural development. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In the Joseon Dynasty, women were expected to give birth to and rear male heirs to assure the continuation of the family line. Women had few opportunities to participate in the social, economic, or political life of society. There were a few exceptions to limitations imposed on women's roles. For example, female shamans were called on to cure illnesses by driving away evil spirits, to pray for rain during droughts, or to perform divination and fortune-telling. Few women received any formal education in traditional Korean society. After the opening of Korea to foreign contact in the late nineteenth century, however, Christian missionaries established girls' schools, thus allowing young Korean females to obtain a modern education. ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Internet in North Korea, Internet in South Korea, Seoulpodcast, South Korean Web Culture, .Kr, Korean Progressive Network, .Kp, Kwangmyong, Sili Bank, Chollima, Naenara, National Internet Development Agency of Korea. Excerpt: SeoulPodcast is a podcast by three ESL teachers living in and around Seoul, South Korea. This weekly show is sponsored by the Korea Herald.. The show gives listeners who are intent on teaching ESL in Korea advice on how to land a good job, be a successful ESL teacher, and generally succeed as an expatriate in South Korea. It is hosted by Joe McPherson (native of Alabama, USA), Jennifer Young (native of Louisiana, USA) and Stafford Lumsden (native of Auckland, New Zealand). Most shows feature a guest, usually a notable personality in the Korean blogging community. Joe McPherson is a food writer for the Korea Herald daily newspaper and a judge for the Miele Guide. McPherson is also the publisher of the Zenkimchi blog which was mentioned in the New York Times. McPherson lives in the Seoul satellite city of Anyang. Jennifer Young is vice president of Korea Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (KOTESOL) Seoul Chapter. Young is also a graduate of the US military's Defense Language Institute, where she learned the Korean language. Young lives in the Seoul satellite city of Bundang. She has been teaching in Korea since 1998 and survived the Korean IMF crisis. Stafford Lumsden is an Elementary School teacher in Gangnam, Seoul and has had a number of articles published including in The East, a London based community paper for East Asian ex-pats living in the United Kingdom. The show began March 28, 2008 and remains an active weekly podcast. The show is the progeny of the Seoul Survivors podcast, which ran from Sep... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=18461128 ... Read more

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This Special report will show you how to find a job as a foreigner and how to do business with the DPRK. A special section offers tips & tricks on securing rare jobs. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1521 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Provides comprehensive coverage of the foods and recipes of approximately 75 cultural groups from more than 60 countries. Entries provide 10-15 recipes for each group and include data on the agriculture and dietary habits of each group as well as an overview of each group's nutrition and health. ... Read more