North Korea's Siege Mentality: A Sociopolitical Analysis of the Kim Jong-un Regime's Foreign Policies

• Published in: Asian perspective Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 223 - 243
• Main Author: Kim, Bomi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc 01.04.2016; 경남대학교 극동문제연구소; Johns Hopkins University Press; 극동문제연구소
• Subjects: Attitudes; Consciousness; Cooperation; Foreign policy; Governance; History; Holocaust; International cooperation; International relations; Jewish people; Kim Jong Un; North Korea; Nuclear weapons; Politics; Resource allocation; Sanctions; Social cohesion; Society; Threats; Worldview; 정치외교학; North Korea; self-reliance; Songun politics; foreign policy; siege mentality; North Korea
• ISSN: 0258-9184; 2288-2871; 2288-2871
• DOI: 10.1353/apr.2016.0010

North Korea's siege mentality is deeply rooted in negative experiences with out-groups in history. This worldview dominates its society and is the foundation of its mistrust toward the outside world. It has also become a crucial instrument for stable governance, social cohesion, and the regime's allocation of resources. However, in foreign affairs, negative or aggressive attitudes toward other nations are not beneficial for international cooperation and are more likely to intensify North Korea's isolation. Since a siege mentality is not an unchangeable disposition, its maintenance depends on deliberate reproduction by political, cultural, and educational mechanisms. The international community should assist North Korea to establish new ideas on threats, convey accurate information about out-groups, and reinterpret its views of the outside world.