Book review: Can a single man bring down the North Korean state? | NK News
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September 24, 2026Sep 24, 2026

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Book review: Can a single man bring down the North Korean state?

Bradley Hope’s ‘The Rebel and the Kingdom’ paints a complex picture of the Madrid raid and the architects behind it

The world has known a variety of underground urban guerilla groups, from Detroit’s far-left Weather Underground to West Germany’s Red Faction Group. “The Rebel and the Kingdom” adds one more to the list in the shape of a “genuine underground organisation dedicated to toppling Kim Jong Un.”

Author Bradley Hope attempts to understand Adrian Hong, a human rights activist and man on the run from both the U.S. State Department and North Korean assassins for his role in the 2019 raid at the North Korean Embassy in Madrid. 

Described in the book as “an idealist trying to oppose a