North Korea

Kim Jong Un Is No Reformer

North Korea's new leader studied in Switzerland and has a young, attractive wife. That doesn't mean he's into the whole hope and change thing.

BY VICTOR D. CHA | AUGUST 21, 2012

North Korea's Extreme Makeover

Pyongyang's new leading man, Kim Jong Un, is all about the lulz. But there's nothing funny about life in the world's most repressive state.

BY BLAINE HARDEN | JULY 26, 2012

An Army of Un

Is North Korea's new leader putting the country's powerful military in its place?

BY KEN E. GAUSE | JULY 18, 2012

Cheap at Any Price

At a billion dollars a year, it's a bargain for China to prop up its rogue state next door.

BY ANDREI LANKOV | JULY 12, 2012

The Slick PR Stylings of Kim Jong Un

North Korea's new leader seems to have a thing for "global trends" and Disney. Does that presage Pyongyang's opening to the West?

BY ISAAC STONE FISH, ADAM CATHCART | JULY 11, 2012

Epiphanies from C. Fred Bergsten

The veteran economist and Washington power-player on China, currency wars, and working with Henry Kissinger.

INTERVIEW BY DANIEL W. DREZNER | JULY/AUGUST 2012

Romney: Year One

What would happen if you took Mitt Romney's foreign-policy promises extremely literally?

BY DANIEL DREZNER | MAY 25, 2012

Are We Focusing on the Wrong Nuclear Threat?

Americans are wringing their hands about the grave threat that a nuclear Iran would pose to the United States. But the numbers tell a different story.

BY VICTOR ASAL AND BRYAN EARLY | MAY 24, 2012

The Miracle of Midland

How a West Texas oil town became an unlikely champion of human rights.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | MAY 15, 2012

Obama's Jimmy Carter Moment

North Korea's impending nuclear test is just the latest illustration of Barack Obama's weakness and naiveté abroad.

BY RICHARD WILLIAMSON | APRIL 26, 2012

Smart Sanctions: A Short History

How a blunt diplomatic tool morphed into the precision-guided measures we know today.

BY URI FRIEDMAN | MAY/JUNE 2012

The World in Photos This Week

Norway's mass killer goes on trial, the space shuttle Discovery lands in Washington, and North Korea celebrates the 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung.

APRIL 20, 2012

April Is the Cruelest Month … for China

Beijing's leaders are finding out the hard way that being a superpower isn't all it's cracked up to be.

BY SOPHIE RICHARDSON | APRIL 19, 2012

Not-So-Great Expectations

For 60 years, North Korean dictators have promised their people prosperity and progress. But even the best of what they can offer amounts to pretty slim pickings.

BY ADAM CATHCART | APRIL 13, 2012

Could North Korea Have Struck It Rich?

Kim Jong Il promised that in 2012, North Koreans would witness a new dawn of prosperity. Here's how it could have been done.

BY STEPHAN HAGGARD | APRIL 13, 2012

The World in Photos This Week

North Korea launches a dud, a fragile cease-fire holds in Syria, and Rick Santorum bows out.

APRIL 13, 2012

Clinton Embraces the Navy

Will U.S. competition with China for naval dominance spark a new Cold War on the high seas?

BY ROBERT FARLEY | APRIL 12, 2012

Land of Rockets and Bicycles

A visual tour of North Korea as the nation gears up for national celebrations -- and an international standoff.

APRIL 11, 2012

The Rocket in Kim Jong Un's Pocket

The missile we should be worried about isn't the one North Korea is about to launch, it's the much bigger one that's hiding in plain sight.

BY NICK HANSEN | APRIL 11, 2012

The Land of Lesser Evils

North Korea's planned missile launch isn't reason enough to walk away from the negotiating table. It's all about politics in Pyongyang -- and in fact, it's an opening for Obama.

BY JOHN DELURY AND CHUNG-IN MOON | MARCH 29, 2012

Escape Artist

Former North Korean propaganda painter Song Byeok explores the surreal world of Kim Jong Il on canvas.

MARCH 28, 2012

'A Report from a Distant Planet'

How does the Associated Press run a bureau in North Korea?

BY ISAAC STONE FISH | MARCH 12, 2012

Let North Korea Keep Its Nukes

It's the only solution that has any hope of success.

BY ANDREI LANKOV | MARCH 7, 2012

A Threat We Can Live With

Most Americans really don’t like North Korea, but few say it’s worth going to war to make them get rid of their nuclear weapons.

BY SCOTT CLEMENT | FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Leap Day in North Korea

Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Pyongyang is a modest success. But let's not get carried away.

BY MARK FITZPATRICK | FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Dealing with the Kims

North Korean negotiators are a tough, wily bunch. But Americans have outfoxed them before.

BY JOEL WIT, JENNY TOWN | FEBRUARY 21, 2012

The Last Kim of Pyongyang?

It's not ridiculous to think that North Korea could take a page from Myanmar and make a shocking U-turn toward democracy.

BY DANIEL M. KLIMAN | JANUARY 19, 2012

I Watched North Korea's Propaganda Film So You Don't Have To

New footage from North Korean state TV offers a rare glimpse at the (not necessarily real) life of Kim Jong Un.

BY ADAM CATHCART | JANUARY 13, 2012

Preaching the Gospel in the Hermit Kingdom

Can Christian evangelicals save North Korea?

BY ISAAC STONE FISH | JANUARY 6, 2012

A Tale of Two North Koreas

China can't decide If It wants to bury Kim Jong Il or to praise him.

BY ADAM CATHCART | DECEMBER 30, 2011