In my series on North Korean strategy I wrote that I saw small-scale trade as one source of effective change. If trade comes from people in the country, as opposed to institutions or government, North Korean decision-makers will have a hard time stopping it. If it comes with information about the outside world, it can change ordinary North Koreans; perspective of it. The Wall Street Journal today reported on large[…] Keep reading →

Amazon featured Understanding North Korea: Demystifying the World’s Most Misunderstood Country in the sidebar over the weekend. It was a “Hot New Release” in Korean History It was also a “Hot New Release” in Military Strategy History (although I wrote it on general strategy, not specifically military strategy). Here are the full pages those screenshots came from. I know it’s coincidence, by I’m honored for Amazon to show my book[…] Keep reading →

I wrote the following on Hacker News and thought it fit here. Last week I self-published my first book. My visit to North Korea last year amazed me at how much we base our impressions of North Korea on pre-conceived notions. I already blogged daily, but the experience affected me so much I started posting twice daily, one post on North Korea. Then Kim Jong Il died and tons of[…] Keep reading →

North Korea fascinates us. Its leaders, their posturing and militarism, their economics, and more all fascinate us. Their belligerence puts them in the news often. Yet we know little about them. More than fascinating, they are globally important. They are a nuclear power with the world’s fourth largest military and most militarized border. Yet the media, mainstream and otherwise, mystifies them more. No one explains how or why anyone could[…] Keep reading →

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH6nQhss4Yc[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtYdjbpBk6A[/youtube] Memorable, effective words: Ich bin ein Berliner! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Two American Presidents were able to strike public relations coups with speeches in Berlin. In both cases they had limited ability to influence the Soviets, though they had great ability to speak to the people on the front lines of the Cold War. I understand their words resonated strongly with them. Few wanted the division[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] I’ve found tremendous success with a conversation technique I developed recently. When you get it, it’s almost too simple to do, but it takes a practice to get[…] Keep reading →

Many people have commented on the video of North Koreans crying over the death of Kim Jong Il. You’ve probably seen it but, if not, here it is. I’ll have you compare it with videos more familiar to our culture, then ask a few questions hopefully to increase your self-awareness, authenticity, and freedom. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSWN6Qj98Iw[/youtube] It’s been viewed almost seven million times in less than a week. Typical reactions point out[…] Keep reading →

Since Vaclav Havel died the day Kim Jong Il’s death was announced, and that the two of them sat on different sides of totalitarian rule, many articles mention them together. Havel played a significant role in dismantling one regime. Kim maintained his. My series on North Korean strategy concluded with limited methods to change North Korea. My limited number of ideas in North Korea makes me wonder if I might[…] Keep reading →

Reading the spate of articles on Kim Jong Il and North Korea, I’ve seen what look from my perspective misinterpretations. Reporters repeatedly succumb to ascribing to the leader what I consider properties of the system. I think they adopt a great-man model that says if something is working, someone must be making it happen. With only Kim Jong Il or Kim Il Sung around, it must be them. Misallocating causes[…] Keep reading →