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Manna from the Think Tanks

Over the last several days, the think tanks have rained down more interesting reports than I’ve had time to pick through, so I’ll just link them for your reading.

– Criminal Sovereignty: Understanding North Korea’s Illicit International Activities, by Dr. Paul Rexton Kan, Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol Jr., Mr. Robert M. Collins.

– China, Iran, and North Korea: A Triangular Strategic Alliance, by Christina Y. Lin

– Audio of Hwang Jang Yop at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

– North Korea Currency Reform: What Happened and What Will Happen To Its Economy?!, by Scott Snyder, Director, Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, The Asia Foundation

– Commander’s Welcome, Renaissance Seoul Hotel, April 5th, 2010, General Walter L. Sharp

– Rajin-Sonbong: A Strategic Choice for China in Its Relations with Pyongyang, by Scott Snyder. I don’t see any chance of Rajin-Sonbong coming to much absent a “strategic shift” in the North Korean regime, but there were still interesting pickings here on the China-North Korea relationship.

4 Responses

  2. Seconding @HUK, thanks much for the links, Joshua, especially the new Scott Snyder pieces. I was also wondering if you had any additional information about the recent ROK prosecution of an alleged North Korean spy who had been active in northeast China. It seems fairly clear that this is connected to the case of Reverend Kim Dong Shik which you wrote about in January. I’m wondering if the case will shed any light on the question: Is Kim Dong-shik’s case a total aberration or part of a larger pattern of North Korean abductions from Chinese territory? And to what extent does evidence exist that China is complicit in these activities, if at all?

    (For what it’s worth, Chinese media don’t seem likely to be reporting on the court case in question; even the usually pretty-unbridled Daily NK (Chinese version) hasn’t leaked the news.)

  3. Adam,

    I had mentioned this spy to Joshua in a post I made in the “Just for the Paulbots” discussion. That man is a ROK citizen, so I wonder he can be tried for treason under ROK law.