Pyongyang and the World: North Korean Perspectives on International Relations under Kim Jong-il

Despite the strategic importance of North Korea, we know relatively little about how Pyongyang perceives international relations. This paper represents an effort to remedy that paucity. I seek to construct Pyongyang's perspectives on international relations under Chairman Kim Jong-il through analysis of primary texts produced by the DPRK and additional secondary materials. North Korea's international relations theory includes perspectives that: see the state as a basic unit, focus on military capability and conflict, value the importance of ideology, and seek to disclose the unfair nature of the current world order and to build a new world order. The DPRK demands a democratization of international relations that will secure peace and stability and pave the way toward independence of member states and a world economic order that will guarantee a just distribution of wealth among them. The core of Pyongyang's perception of Northeast Asian politics is the dichotomy between the land powers and sea powers. The North identifies itself as a land power along with China and Russia. South Korea belongs to the group of sea powers, siding with Japan and the USA. It is difficult to anticipate a dramatic rewriting of Pyongyang's international relations theory under the current leadership. For the rise of a new theory of international relations more bent on harmony and interdependence, we might have to wait till the arrival of a new leadership in Pyongyang.