Book review: Japanese scholars shed light on North Korean politics and culture | NK News
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Book review: Japanese scholars shed light on North Korean politics and culture

Keio University book offers a meticulously researched look at the DPRK using both internal and external sources
Stephen Mercado February 12, 2025
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Book review: Japanese scholars shed light on North Korean politics and culture
North Korean students during a mass dance performance, Pyongyang, North Korea | Image: Eric Lafforgue (Sept. 2012)

A collaborative effort by eight Japanese scholars, Dissecting North Korea: From Politics and the Economy to Art and Culture (北朝鮮を解剖する：政治・経済から芸術・文化まで) offers a nuanced and insightful analysis of Pyongyang’s political, economic and cultural landscape. 

Published last year by the Keio Institute of East Asian Studies, this meticulously researched volume stands out as one of the most readable and thought-provoking works on North Korea in recent years, surpassing much of what has been available in English on the subject.

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About the Author

Stephen Mercado

Stephen Mercado

Stephen Mercado is a retired officer of the CIA’s Open Source Enterprise (originally the Foreign Broadcast Information Service). A researcher primarily interested in Japanese intelligence history and Asian open-source intelligence, he earned a master’s degree in international affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is the author of "Japanese Spy Gear and Special Weapons: How Noborito's Scientists and Technicians Served in the Second World War and the Cold War" (Pen & Sword Military, 2025), "The Shadow Warriors of Nakano: A History of the Imperial Japanese Army’s Elite Intelligence School" (Brassey’s, 2002), a dozen articles and several dozen book reviews.

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