A kink in the armor: The Wall Street Journal on luxuries entering North Korea
In my series on North Korean strategy I wrote that I saw small-scale trade as one source of effective change.If trade comes from people in the country, as opposed to institutions or government, North...
View ArticleHundreds of millions of counterfeit hundred dollar bills, part 1
I remember reading this 2006 New York Times article, "No Ordinary Counterfeit" when it first printed, about so-called supernotes, counterfeit hundred dollar bills whose inaccuracies sometimes appeared...
View ArticleHundreds of millions of counterfeit hundred dollar bills, part 2
Following up yesterday’s post on the New York Times’s article on counterfeit hundred dollar bills and evidence pointing to the North Korean government having forged them, today let’s look at a Vanity...
View ArticleHundreds of millions of counterfeit hundred dollar bills, part 3
At the end of my first post on this topic I speculated on the motivations of counterfeiters. The Vanity Fair article I mentioned in part 2 reminded me of other motivations that make the behavior more...
View ArticleThis land was made for you and me
Like most American kids of my generation, I learned This Land Is Your Landas a children's song, never thinking much of its meaning. A decade or two later, I heard Bruce Springsteen's version of it on...
View ArticleGrand Illusions and North Korea, part 1
People, left to themselves, don't seem to care about people on the other side of the planet. They seem to want to pursue happiness and enjoy themselves if they can. My observations in North Korea...
View ArticlePlanet Money on the North Korean economy
A podcast from NPR called Planet Money did a twenty-minute podcast last summer on the North Korean economy. I thought they did a great job, covering its size, its challenge of getting hard currencies...
View ArticleA North Korean vegan food blog
Who would have believed a North Korean vegan food blog could exist?And written by someone in New York City, home to no North Korean restaurants.Maybe this means I will get to try some reasonably...
View ArticleSee Joshua Spodek on understanding North Korea from a business strategy...
Columbia Global Initiative for Human RightsProudly PresentsNorth Korea: Demystifying the Business Strategy of the World'sMost Misunderstood Country* * * * *read more
View ArticleAnother review of Understanding North Korea: Demystifying the World's Most...
Joseph Ferris, who took the most breathtaking and evocative pictures of North Korea I've seen -- see them on Flickr (I recommend watching the whole slide show) -- reviewed my book, Understanding North...
View ArticleA question on my North Korea talk at Columbia
A Columbia student responded to the announcement of my talk:I would be interested in why a human rights club is putting on what appears to be a sympathetic presentation on one of the world's most...
View ArticleThe slides from my North Korea talk at Columbia Business School
Saturday's talk on North Korea at Columbia Business School went great -- a full room, an attentive audience, and great questions at the end.I didn't leave as much time for questions as I wish I had,...
View ArticleObama's missed North Korea opportunity
When I first saw this picture, reading in the New York Times how "In South Korea Visit, Obama Visits Border and Warns North," I thought little of it, until I thought back to my earlier post on...
View ArticleNorth Korea, the environment, and trees
This NY TImes article on North Korea and its environment, Q. and A.: North Korea’s Choked Environment, reminded me of other routes to create bonds and understanding with North Korea -- nature and...
View ArticleA story of a North Korean prison camp
Today I'm just linking to a radio interview on a man born and raised in the North Korea prison camp system. Prepare yourself before listening since it gets serious.It speaks for itself. I understand...
View ArticleVideos Of Visiting North Korea a second time
I haven't posted here in a long time, in particular since posting all my videos from visiting North Korea my second time. This visit was incredible -- including interacting with North Korean soldiers,...
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