The Impossible State
Victor Cha
How did North Korea become The Impossible State, where citizens found humming South Korean pop songs risk being sent to a gulag, and yet a starving populace clings fiercely to its Dear Leader Kim Jong-un? Former White House adviser and Director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University, Victor Cha, pulls back the curtain on the world’s most isolated country to provide an unprecedented insight into North Korea’s history, present and future. In the era of the Trump administration and with South Korean relations seemingly on the brink of great change, this in-depth account of the country offers much-needed answers in an increasingly uncertain political climate. Extensive and fast-paced, The Impossible State is a gripping portrait of the society, economy and foreign policy of the most enigmatic nation-state.