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A review by ellelovesbook
Becoming Kim Jong Un: A Former CIA Officer's Insights Into North Korea's Enigmatic Young Dictator by Jung H. Pak
4.0
A former CIA officer, the author paints a comprehensive backdrop of the history of one of the world's most powerful and corrupt nations. Whether you're highly versed in the history of the Korean peninsula, or just have a basic understanding, the author provides enough contextual background information adjacent to covert intelligence to keep both types of readers engaged and entertained.
The Kim regime has been known to only let the public see what they want of them when they want them to see it. Likewise, Kim Jung Un has remained elusive, yet eager to be seen in the public eye when it benefits him. Growing up under an alias at a private school in Switzerland, the young Kim Jung Un took over his father's empire at the ripe age of 27. His father and grandfather were striving to unify the Korean peninsula once again, and this is seen to be Kim's ultimate and paramount goal, aside to his dynastic- and self-preservation. Kim is only confirmed to have 1 child, but 2 others are suspected from intelligence in South Korea.
Defectors of the ideology are punished to the nth degree: 'Intergenerational imprisonment and punishment was required because "their [relatives of defectors] seed must be eliminated through three generations."' There are two types of prisons in North Korea: political prisons and reeducation camps. Any offense deemed "anti-state" would cause a citizen, or non-citizen, to be imprisoned. We have seen multiple examples of Americans being imprisoned such as the student Otto for taking down a poster, and a man for leaving a Bible in a restaurant. Border patrol has only gotten tighter since COVID-19, and people willingly risk their lives knowing there's only a fraction of hope for a successful escape. To them, it's still better than living in squalor eating tree bark and roadkill to survive.
Then there were the Twitter battles between Trump and Kim. Their brazen and alarming tweets coupled with their lacking anger management resolve had the world on edge, constantly refreshing the Twitter homepage to read the tweet that would mean lights out. Then 2018 happened.
Following a series of meetings between Trump and Kim, promising handshakes, and seemingly swell conversations, sitting president Trump left the summit with a bullish trust of Kim's "word" on taking steps to denuclearize. In the end, we were left with the status quo, and Kim's absolute, adamant reluctance to take an iota of a step away from his pet project.
The author's insights on the metastasis moving forward include using external pressure to increase the domestic costs for Him. We want Kim to realize nuclear weapons are a greater threat to his rule and dynastic preservation than an asset. Denuclearization of the peninsula has been a longtime goal of the United States. To do this, the author advises we strategize and implement ways to choke off North Korea's ability to generate revenue for the regime and development of their nuclear weapons.
According to the former director of national intelligence, James Clapper, the US should invest in information dissemination programs in North Korea. He lamented that we had a limited means to satisfy the North Korean's "hunger for information."
Further, "access to more information gives North Korean people the agency, self-determination, and knowledge to write their own future and destiny as a nation."
These ideas are great in theory, but in practice we know it's almost impossible to get any information over there. I would've liked to hear more practical ideas on how to enable educational information to the people of North Korea, as self education and access to information are crucial to human evolution, and would be the necessary first step for a path towards a brighter future.
The Kim regime has been known to only let the public see what they want of them when they want them to see it. Likewise, Kim Jung Un has remained elusive, yet eager to be seen in the public eye when it benefits him. Growing up under an alias at a private school in Switzerland, the young Kim Jung Un took over his father's empire at the ripe age of 27. His father and grandfather were striving to unify the Korean peninsula once again, and this is seen to be Kim's ultimate and paramount goal, aside to his dynastic- and self-preservation. Kim is only confirmed to have 1 child, but 2 others are suspected from intelligence in South Korea.
Defectors of the ideology are punished to the nth degree: 'Intergenerational imprisonment and punishment was required because "their [relatives of defectors] seed must be eliminated through three generations."' There are two types of prisons in North Korea: political prisons and reeducation camps. Any offense deemed "anti-state" would cause a citizen, or non-citizen, to be imprisoned. We have seen multiple examples of Americans being imprisoned such as the student Otto for taking down a poster, and a man for leaving a Bible in a restaurant. Border patrol has only gotten tighter since COVID-19, and people willingly risk their lives knowing there's only a fraction of hope for a successful escape. To them, it's still better than living in squalor eating tree bark and roadkill to survive.
Then there were the Twitter battles between Trump and Kim. Their brazen and alarming tweets coupled with their lacking anger management resolve had the world on edge, constantly refreshing the Twitter homepage to read the tweet that would mean lights out. Then 2018 happened.
Following a series of meetings between Trump and Kim, promising handshakes, and seemingly swell conversations, sitting president Trump left the summit with a bullish trust of Kim's "word" on taking steps to denuclearize. In the end, we were left with the status quo, and Kim's absolute, adamant reluctance to take an iota of a step away from his pet project.
The author's insights on the metastasis moving forward include using external pressure to increase the domestic costs for Him. We want Kim to realize nuclear weapons are a greater threat to his rule and dynastic preservation than an asset. Denuclearization of the peninsula has been a longtime goal of the United States. To do this, the author advises we strategize and implement ways to choke off North Korea's ability to generate revenue for the regime and development of their nuclear weapons.
According to the former director of national intelligence, James Clapper, the US should invest in information dissemination programs in North Korea. He lamented that we had a limited means to satisfy the North Korean's "hunger for information."
Further, "access to more information gives North Korean people the agency, self-determination, and knowledge to write their own future and destiny as a nation."
These ideas are great in theory, but in practice we know it's almost impossible to get any information over there. I would've liked to hear more practical ideas on how to enable educational information to the people of North Korea, as self education and access to information are crucial to human evolution, and would be the necessary first step for a path towards a brighter future.