A multi-layered approach towards North Korean Regime: political, economical,diplomatic, and societal
Background
When evaluating the state of the discourse on recent North Korean
developments, we often see – to put it in a straightforward fashion – a continuingreiteration of short-term interests and a consequent lack of feedback. That is to say,researchers’ interest in North Korea tends for long periods of time to follow specific
events, such as ballistic missile and nuclear tests, the resumption of the Six-party Talks
and their abrupt cancellation, the currency devaluation, the succession process, therecent sinking of the South Korean patrol boat Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong
Island, and the successive visits to China by North Korean senior officials. The media
coverage of these events creates a surge of interest that the discourse obediently follows
and, when the next incident occurs, interest in the previous affair quickly dissipates.
Naturally, the reality of this situation shows that North Korean affairs changerapidly. This tends to make research on North Korea “perishable”, with an expiry dateand all. As a result, what we see today is a general discourse lacking continuity as well
as a tangible “current” (research history), simply vanishing with the passage of time.
As long as this method of research persists, research on North Korea willamount merely to a variation on news commentary. Even in relation to these specificincidents, understanding each event as a consequence of a specific process and placing it
within the context of North Korea as a whole becomes immensely difficult. Typical of
the state of research is the fact that, while considerable interest has been shown about“successors,” little attention has been paid to the changes that will inevitably occur inNorth Korean politics during the North Korean succession process, with the exception of
the promotion and replacement of senior officials. Still, while incidents occurring as aconsequence of the economic reforms, the re-denomination of the won, and the black
market are being debated, we are seeing no attempts to observe the consequences North
Korea has had to deal with as a result, and discussion about the theory or basis onwhich North Korea formulates its economic policy in the first place is sorely absent.
These are all good examples of what we should be analyzing with regard to North
Korea.
In addition, drawing up a future outlook for North Korea under present
conditions might narrow our field of view and have a negative effect on our ability topropose and come up with effective policies towards North Korea, particularly as weapproach 2012, which the North Korean government has announced will mark a“historic milestone” with potentially immense consequences for the regime. Building aframework from which the implications of this event can be thoroughly analyzed would
contribute to the research history on the subject, and is also regarded as vital from apolicy standpoint. Based on this perspective, the study group will attempt to reconstruct
the currently myopic framework on North Korean affairs, and to create a long-term
model from which we can further the debate over North Korea.
Aims of Research
The study group will select certain subject groupings, analyze the principal topics
therein, and derive a picture of the current state of North Korea from variousperspectives.

Specifically, the researchers will work to establish a holistic depiction of

North Korea at present based on a larger framework consisting of four fundamental
issues: politics, economics, diplomacy, and society. Through analyses conducted under
this loose but still clear categorization of the four aforementioned fundamentals, theconceptualized research in these separate areas will provide a multifaceted view oftoday’s North Korea and will offer suggestions for examining future developments inthese areas.

In conjunction with this, the study group hopes to produce research thatwill evoke in readers a meaningful “image” of North Korea’s present and future.
The ultimate goal of this study group is to thus attain a productive knowledgeof North Korea both as a series of case studies and as a comprehensive study of thecountry.
Plan of Action
The study group’s goal since its creation in October 2010 has been to compile analyses
and works from all areas related to the current state of affairs of North Korea andreveal a “portrait” of the country that will lend itself to effective policy suggestions.
Utilizing a reliable and seamless research approach, the study group will seek toachieve this goal more effectively on the basis of accumulated expertise deriving frommany years of observation. The study group will maintain the layout of the previous
year throughout 2011 while further deepening its research. Specifically, the study groupmembers will examine trends in their respective areas of research, give presentations
on their progress, and at the end of the year submit reports compiling their findings.
As the presentations will basically assume a “year in review” format, the study groupwill also hold a seminar during the latter half of 2011.

Study Group Members
LeaderFURUTA Hiroshi (Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences,Tsukuba University)
Members
KURATA Hideya (Professor, National Defense Academy; Adjunct Fellow, Japan
Institute of International Affairs)
HOTTA Yukihiro (Researcher, Department of Culture and Business, Kazankai
Foundation; Editor, “East Asia” Monthly News Magazine)
Member and Secretary
IIMURA Tomoki (Research Fellow, Japan Institute of International Affairs)