Origins of the North Korean Garrison State

The People’s Army and the Korean War

Youngjun Kim (Korea National Defense University, Republic of Korea)

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English

Routledge
08 August 2017

Series: Cold War History

This book investigates the origins of the North Korean garrison state by examining the development of the Korean People’s Army and the legacies of the Korean War.

Despite its significance, there are very few books on the Korean People’s Army with North Korean primary sources being difficult to access. This book, however, draws on North Korean documents and North Korean veterans’ testimonies, and demonstrates how the Korean People’s Army and the Korean War shaped North Korea into a closed, militarized and xenophobic garrison state and made North Korea seek Juche (Self Reliance) ideology and weapons of mass destruction. This book maintains that the youth and lower classes in North Korea considered the Korean People’s Army as a positive opportunity for upward social mobility. As a result, the North Korean regime secured its legitimacy by establishing a new class of social elites wherein they offered career advancements for persons who had little standing and few opportunities under the preceding Japanese dominated regime. These new elites from poor working and peasant families became the core supporters of the North Korean regime today. In addition, this book argues that, in the aftermath of the Korean War, a culture of victimization was established among North Koreans which allowed Kim Il Sung to use this culture of fear to build and maintain the garrison state. Thus, this work illustrates how the North Korean regime has garnered popular support for the continuation of a militarized state, despite the great hardships the people are suffering.

This book will be of much interest to students of North Korea, the Korean War, Asian politics, Cold War Studies, military and strategic studies, and international history.

By: Youngjun Kim (Korea National Defense University Republic of Korea)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 480g
ISBN: 9781138942158
ISBN 10: 1138942154
Series: Cold War History
Pages: 270
Publication Date: 08 August 2017
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education , A / AS level
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface: The Korean People's Army and the North Korean Garrison State PART 1: Origins of the Korean People's Army 1. Introduction: The Korean People's Army's Invasion of South 2. Three Core Groups of the Korean People's Army 3. The Origins of the Korean People's Army: Kim Il Sung's Vision for the Korean People's Army 4. The Origins of the Korean People's Army: The Soviet Union in the North Korean Society 5. The Origins of the Korean People's Army: The Formation of the Korean People's Army and Initiator Kim Il Sung 6. The Origins of the Korean People's Army: China PART 2: The Korean People's Army at War and the Legacy of the Korean War 7. The Leadership of the Korean People's Army: The Party-Military Relations and Generalship of the Korean People's Army 8. The Korean People's Army's Performance and the Legacy of the War: The Rise and Fall of the Korean People's Army and the Making of the Garrison State Conclusion: The Making of the Garrison State

Youngjun Kim is Professor of National Security at the Korea National Defense University and has a PhD in History from the University of Kansas, USA.

Reviews for Origins of the North Korean Garrison State: The People’s Army and the Korean War

'As the actions and threats of the North Korean military continue to be a cause of global concern, Youngjun Kim gives us an unprecedented and detailed glimpse into the origins and formative years of the Korean People's Army. More than a military history, Origins of the North Korean Garrison State offers a social and cultural context that explains how the North Korean military emerged as the key institution of North Korean society. The garrison state created in the late 1940s and early 1950s is in many ways still the North Korea of today. A timely and important book.' -- Charles Armstrong, Columbia University, USA