North Korea and Singapore: Two families, two nations



Analysis North Korea and Singapore: Two families, two nations The Kims, the Lees and the curious parallels between a leader eulogized and a nation demonized Tim Beal April 6, 2015 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON PM condoles the demise of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of modern Singapore by narendramodiofficial on 2015-03-27 00:02:26 The death of Lee Kuan Yew on March 23 is a reminder of the intriguing parallels between North Korea and Singapore and the importance of context in deciphering events. Parallels involve dissimilarities as well as similarities and for states to be comparable requires that both are of roughly the same order of magnitude and probability so that the pairing of the two provides insight. There must be enough common ground for differences to be meaningful. There would be little point in comparing either North Korea or Singapore with Brazil, or Pakistan, or the United States, or the Vatican – the © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update & Podcast Updates Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by Trending

Analysis

North Korea and Singapore: Two families, two nations

The Kims, the Lees and the curious parallels between a leader eulogized and a nation demonized

Tim Beal April 6, 2015

North Korea and Singapore: Two families, two nations

PM condoles the demise of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of modern Singapore by narendramodiofficial on 2015-03-27 00:02:26

The death of Lee Kuan Yew on March 23 is a reminder of the intriguing parallels between North Korea and Singapore and the importance of context in deciphering events. Parallels involve dissimilarities as well as similarities and for states to be comparable requires that both are of roughly the same order of magnitude and probability so that the pairing of the two provides insight. There must be enough common ground for differences to be meaningful. There would be little point in comparing either North Korea or Singapore with Brazil, or Pakistan, or the United States, or the Vatican – the

About the Author

Tim Beal

Tim Beal did a MA (Hons) in Modern Chinese Studies at Edinburgh University, followed by a PhD there on Chinese foreign trade. He moved to New Zealand in 1987 teaching at Victoria University of Wellington until his retirement in 2009. He has written extensively on International and Asian affairs, including two books relating to Korea: ‘North Korea: The Struggle against American Power’ (London: Pluto, 2005) and ‘Crisis in Korea: America, China, and the Risk of War’ (London: Pluto, 2011). He has been visiting both Koreas since the 1990s and maintains a geopolitical website focused on the peninsula at http://www.timbeal.net.nz/geopolitics/

View more articles by Tim Beal Got a news tip?Let us know!

Location of your Mastodon instance:

North Korea and Singapore: Two families, two nations

Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most –

as selected by

One more step!

Error!

Trending

Recent Stories

About the Author

Tim Beal

Start your day with
the North Korea stories that matter most –