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Anna Fifield is the Beijing bureau chief for the Washington Post. She was previously the Post's Tokyo bureau chief and the Financial Times's correspondent in Seoul.

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lynngood2 | 3 weitere Rezensionen | Dec 21, 2019 |
The plump and oddly coiffed dictator Kim Jong Un seems to make the world laugh. This book will change the mind of anyone who reads it. Fifield, who was a correspondent in North Korea for over a decade, is uniquely placed to reveal the horror of North Korean totalitarianism and un-comic a person Un really is. She talked to sources as varied as his aunt and uncle who raised him while he went to school in Switzerland, the man who was sushi chef for the Kims, who befriended Un when he was a child, and various people who have escaped the country or who do business there. It’s dangerous to speak to reporters if they have any relatives in the country.

It wasn’t easy to learn about Un. He was brought up out of the public eye, entitled amidst vast, showy wealth but lonely. Obsessed with basketball and weapons, a bizarre cult of personality was created around him- that he was an expert marksman at age 3, that at age 8 he drove a truck 80 mph. He wasn’t the obvious choice for heir to the Kim dynasty; he wasn’t the oldest son and he wasn’t son of the first wife. But his mother was ambitious and pushed him to the, well, throne. Family members who might challenge his right to the throne wind up dead- one uncle was quite publically assassinated. Importantly, he understands the modern world of computers and cyber spying.

He supposedly knows everything about everything and runs every aspect of the country, from the minutia of the economy to how nuclear weapons should be built. Despite being raised in insane luxury and having access to whatever he wants, he plays man of the people, meeting the crowds and hugging people. But he is scrupulous about having hotel rooms and other places totally wiped down when he leaves, removing any stray DNA that might give a clue to his health.

Under Un’s rule, there has been a rise in entrepreneurism and markets. Cell phones, bikinis, and plastic surgery are becoming common, and there is a private transport industry to make the markets possible. Businesses are run for profit, and the owners can hire or fire employees, rather than having them assigned by the government. But before this openness took place, he had sealed the borders and cracked down on the internet and TV to terrorize the nation. Freer markets are allowed because, in the end, it boosts Uns income- there are kickbacks and bribery at all levels. With the more open markets has come a drug problem; in a country where most people are still hungry, meth, with its appetite suppressing quality, is hugely popular.

The freeness and prosperity of North Korea is, in many ways, illusory. While huge high rise apartment buildings are being built, they are already falling apart. No one wants to live on any floor above the third or fourth, because the elevators are probably turned off or broken. There are self-criticism sessions every week (shades of Maoism) and huge concentration camps in the areas of North Korea with the worst climates.

But this man stroked Trump’s ego so that Korea got good concessions and Un got to keep all his nukes. The man is not a raving madman- well, not *just* a raving madman- he’s a smart, coldly calculating despot who knows exactly what he’s doing as he builds up his ability to nuke anyone, anywhere. A very interesting book with good research, that I think everyone should read, but it is choppy and jumps around. Four stars.
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lauriebrown54 | 3 weitere Rezensionen | Sep 14, 2019 |
This book is a well-researched, thoroughly fascinating look into the life of Kim Jong Un and the country he rules. I cannot recommend it too highly to anyone interested in North Korea. Fifield also manages to make some interesting observations about the relationship between Kim and Donald Trump without drawing the obvious parallels too boldly and seems to me to have a good sense of what may or may not develop from that relationship.
½
 
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nmele | 3 weitere Rezensionen | Jul 2, 2019 |
I thoroughly enjoyed this peek behind the curtain into North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un.
The author has covered the Korea beat for many years, with the Financial Times and the Washington Post. Her extensive knowledge of the area is obvious in her writing. She has been to North Korea a dozen times. She also interviewed people who have escaped from North Korea.
Fifield covers the entirety of Kim Jong Un's life so far. From his early childhood to the present time. And the time before his rule, when his father and grandfather ruled the nation.
I have to admit that I had always considered Kim Jong Un to be a comical blowhard who was way out of his league. Now, after reading this, my opinion has done a 180. Now I am afraid of what the world has to face.
Kim Jong Un (KJU) is a cunning, calculating person, whom we should not be underestimating. What looks to us as nonsensical behavior is actually just the opposite. KJU is a master manipulator. Knowing that he rose to the position of leader at a very young age, he realized (or had been taught?) that he had to appease different factions to stay in power. Basically, the military and the Korean version of the "1%".
As far as the 1%'ers were concerned, he learned well from his father and grandfather. "Like his patriarchs, he has managed to survive as a dictator by controlling an entire nation through a relatively tiny group of people. It was another rule espoused by Machiavelli: don't worry about the general population; just be sure to enrich a small, elite group". He does this by letting this group ignore the socialist rules the rest of the population has to obey. They are "free" to make money anyway they can, through trade, smuggling, or any other method they can think of. With a caveat, of course, "free" as long as they kick back a portion of the spoils to KJU's own coffers.
By forging ahead at full steam to develop nuclear weapons, he kept the military satisfied. And as long as they have nuclear weapons, the military knows that it is safe from invasion.
And it doesn't hurt KJU's position that he is willing to sacrifice ANYONE to maintain his hold on the country. As is evidenced by what he did to his favorite uncle. No one under him should feel safe and secure.
The author points out that KJU will NEVER give up the nuclear weapons he now has. To do so would be political folly, and the probable end of his regime. No, KJU more then likely intends to use his membership in the nuclear family to extract more and more concessions from the rest of the world.
Which brings us to today. How are we (the free world) supposed to handle North Korea? Is it wiser to try to continue to isolate them in the world, or to try to interact with them? We have to admit, the isolation treatment did not work so well, they still developed nuclear weapons. Will the current U.S. President's overtures towards "friendship" work? I don't know. I just hope that someone in charge is acting with a clearly thought out plan, and not just flying by the seat of his pants to make himself look good.
Time will tell!
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1Randal | 3 weitere Rezensionen | Jul 2, 2019 |

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