seethetraffic
Joined: 22 Nov 2005
Location: Seoul
|
 Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 1:06 pm Post subject: book moved to other post |
 |
|
Rogue Regime: Kim Jong Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea (Hardcover) by Jasper Becker (2005) Like New ($18)
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
One of the few reporters to have firsthand experience of North Korea, veteran Asian correspondent Becker (Hungry Ghosts) adds more nuance to a familiar story that the threat of nuclear arms, as well as the world's fifth largest standing army, are part of an attempt to force the rest of the globe to cater to a mad leader's megalomaniacal world. Becker presents a well-fed, unprepossessing Kim Jong Il running North Korea with a cult of personality unmatched in contemporary history, reducing his population to starving anonymous actors in a bizarre personal psychodrama, where "even the mere idea of internal opposition to Kim's rule is regarded as preposterous." Images of this grim state of affairs�which goes well beyond the Orwellian into the Kafkaesque�have been smuggled out over the past few years; how they came to be is described with rare concision by Becker: the Kim dynasty's poisonous and potent blend of Stalinist doctrine and Korean absolutism found its catalysts, he argues, in the varying ambitions of Japan, China and the U.S. While stopping short of calling for immediate regime change, Becker minces no words in warning that we may now have no way out of a monstrous situation. 16 b&w photos not seen by PW. (May)
Copyright � Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Along with Iran, North Korea persists as the greatest U.S. foreign-policy dilemma. With a huge conventional army and, apparently, a growing supply of nuclear weapons, the "rogue" regime of Kim Jong Il is a threat to our Asian allies; with the continued development of long-range missiles, it could even threaten the continental U.S. Becker, a foreign correspondent with substantial experience in East Asia, has written a frightening and depressing account of both the domestic and foreign policies of a society and government that are an affront to the human spirit. Like all totalitarians, Kim Jong IL seems to regard his people as clay playthings to be molded as he pursues his grandiose visions. The result is a slave state in which political repression and control are absolute and starvation is rampant. Becker asserts that "regime change" may prove to be the only viable option. However, as he indicates in a scenario that opens the book, that too is fraught with grave danger. Jay Freeman
Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"What, one wonders, would Orwell have made of the current government in North Korea? In the wake of reading Jasper Becker's excellent account of supreme leader Kim Jon II, it is easy to imagine the great English novelist declaring 1984 no longer up to the task. ogue Regime outlines a barbarous and demented reality beyond the imaginings of even the most fevered literary dystopia." --National Post
"Jasper Becker is already known as one of the sharpest observers of contemporary China--and with Rogue Regime he immediately establishes himself as a premier observer, and critic, of Kim Jong Il's North Korea. Readers of this devastating book will be hard pressed to gainsay Becker's assertion that this dynastic dictatorship genuinely empowers evil--or to turn away from Becker's conclusion that only regime change is likely to bring a better life to the millions of ordinary North Koreans suffering under the Dear Leader's rule."--Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Scholar in Political Economy, The American Enterprise Institute
"By giving us an engrossing and well-documented examination of the North Korean regime, Becker proves that Kim Jong Il is in a category of tyranny all on his own and that engagement and appeasement only strengthen him. If you care at all about the slow and certain genocide of the North Korean people, he makes a powerful case for why regime change is the only answer." --Suzanne Scholte, President, Defense Forum Foundation
"Jasper Becker has warned us about North Korea, as a journalist with a sharp eye and an historian with perspective. North Korea with its bizarre cult of personality, its failed economy, its crackpot ideology and its relentless pursuit of weapons of mass destruction is a major challenge in the twenty-first century. The reader will learn of the cunning control freaks who run the country. Becker's convincing book will make the task of the apologists for North Korea that much more difficult." --James Lilley, Former American Ambassador to South Korea and China
"Rogue Regime is the companion work to Jasper Becker's Hungry Ghosts, his earlier, well-documented account of 30 million famine deaths in Mao's China. Once again he pulls back a heavy veil of secrecy and reveals the immense suffering of the people of North Korea." --Dean Hirsch, President, World Vision International
"One of the few reporters to have firsthand experience of North Korea, veteran Asian correspondent Becker adds more nuance to a familiar story that the threat of nuclear arms, as well as the world's fifth largest standing army, are part of an attempt to force the rest of the globe to cater to a mad leader's megalomaniacal world.... Images of this grim state of affairs--which goes well beyond the Orwellian into the Kafkaesque--have been smuggled out over the past few years; how they came to be is described with rare concision by Becker.... Becker minces no words in warning that we may now have no way out of a monstrous situation."--Publishers Weekly
"Really is required reading. Becker, one of the few Western reporters to spend time in the Stalinist state, details the megalomania of Kim Jong Il--who staffed his palaces with the country's most beautiful women--and the madness of his regime, under which 2 million Koreans have reportedly died of starvation."--New York Post
"A very timly book.... Not for the faint-hearted. Mr. Becker takes an unblinking look at a dark regime that has made North Korea an international pariah, has elevated its rulers to the status of gods, and through torture and indoctrination reduced its subjects to virtual slaves.... The facts almost defy belief."--William Grimes, The New York Times
"Becker makes a powerful case for defining Kim once and for all--not as an ordinary, if nuclear-tipped, dictator, but as an extraordinarily skillful tyrant presiding over the worst man-made catastrophe in modern history.... A highly readable narrative that unearths Kim's history, probes his decision-making style and details the grotesque consequences of those decisions. His book is a subtle plea to the world to expand its focus beyond the--admittedly important--nuclear issue to the vast humanitarian catastrophe unfolding under Kim Jong Il's gaze."--Joshua Kurlantzick, New York Times Book Review
"A good new look at North Korea."--Nicholas Kristof, The New York Observer
"A very timely book.... Not for the faint-hearted. Mr. Becker takes an unblinking look at a dark regime that has made North Korea an international pariah, has elevated its rulers to the status of gods, and through torture and indoctrination reduced its subjects to virtual slaves.... The facts almost defy belief."--William Grimes, The New York Times
Book Description
How is North Korea, a tiny, starving, and completely bankrupt state, able to blackmail a military colossus like the United States? In Rogue State, well-known foreign correspondent Jasper Becker offers an eye-opening look at North Korea, a brutal Stalinist country that has become one of the most volatile hot spots in the world. Becker here reveals the historical roots of the current tensions and offers straightforward explanations of the motives and strategy of the major players. He shows how, in 1994, the United States came close to launching a pre-emptive strike against North Korea. He sheds light on North Korea's continuing survival and lays out the rationale behind the often bizarre policies pursued by North and South--and their larger neighbors. He critically assesses the Clinton-Carter Agreed Framework, describing it as a failure and highlighting how the appeasement of North Korea has not stopped or even delayed them from acquiring nuclear weapons. Becker also provides controversial and compelling new evidence that without international aid, the reign of Kim Jong Il would have collapsed. Since 1994, perhaps three million Koreans have died of starvation in the North, a disaster worse than Pol Pot's Cambodia. Becker offers first-hand accounts of the resulting chaos and hitherto unreported large-scale unrest inside North Korea. He concludes that North Korea is a case for intervention on humanitarian grounds. Providing vital background information on a little-understood and exceedingly dangerous nation, this highly accessible and compact volume will be a valuable guide for everyone interested in foreign affairs and the state of the world today.
About the Author
Jasper Becker has worked as a foreign correspondent for twenty years, including eleven years based in Beijing. He has written four books on the region, which have been translated into seven languages. His most recent work is The Chinese.
Will ship FREE with tracking.
010-8695-3719 or [email protected]
Last edited by seethetraffic on Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:29 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
