May 04, 2024

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Benjamin R. Young

Benjamin R. Young

Benjamin R. Young is an Assistant Professor of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University). He is the author of Guns, Guerillas, and the Great Leader: North Korea and the Third World (Stanford University Press, 2021). He received his Ph.D. from The George Washington University in 2018. He has previously taught at the U.S. Naval War College and Dakota State University. He has published peer-reviewed articles on North Korean history and politics in a number of scholarly journals and is a regular contributor to NK News.

Opinion

It’s time to end engagement with North Korea

The tragic case of Otto Warmbier confirms that the DPRK cannot be changed through tourism

Benjamin R. YoungBenjamin R. YoungJune 20, 2017
Opinion

Why North Korea is best described a “guerrilla state”

The treatment of Otto Warmbier brings to mind the brutality of the DPRK's past

Benjamin R. YoungBenjamin R. YoungJune 15, 2017
Evergreen

The first North Korean crisis in Malaysia

Years before Kim Jong Nam's death, North Korean agents hatched a plot to wreak havoc in Malaysia

Benjamin R. YoungBenjamin R. YoungMarch 24, 2017
Evergreen

The Ugandan insurgents guided by North Korean spirits

Some warlords in Northern Uganda believed ghosts from Pyongyang could stop bullets and plan battles

Benjamin R. YoungBenjamin R. YoungFebruary 21, 2017
Evergreen

North Korea’s long, messy history of killing opponents abroad

The DPRK's leaders have frequently targeted dissenters overseas

Benjamin R. YoungBenjamin R. YoungFebruary 16, 2017
Evergreen

The revolution will not be televised: North Korea’s support for 60s radicals

Many of the New Left found common ground with the anti-imperialism of Kim Il Sung

Benjamin R. YoungBenjamin R. YoungJanuary 26, 2017
Evergreen

When North Korean students joined the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

A new book explores the untold story of the North Koreans in Hungary

Benjamin R. YoungBenjamin R. YoungJanuary 5, 2017
Evergreen

The artist tracking North Korea’s statue-building projects in Africa

Onejoon Che hopes to understand the significance of the Mansudae Art Project

Benjamin R. YoungBenjamin R. YoungDecember 19, 2016
Evergreen

How North Korean magazines undermined 1980’s Soviet propaganda

The magazines, a throwback to old-school Stalinism, were widely derided by Soviet dissidents

Benjamin R. YoungBenjamin R. YoungDecember 8, 2016
Evergreen

Revolutionary Solidarity: Castro’s cozy relationship with North Korea

The death of the iconic Cuban leader offers chance to examine his close relations with N. Korea

Benjamin R. YoungBenjamin R. YoungNovember 28, 2016