Course Name Year Term Period Faculty / Graduate School All Instructors Credits
16886:IR18‐GE304 Korean Studies (R) § 16887:RUIR-3621 Korean Studies(R) § 16888:IR-FS304 Korean Studies (R) 2024 Fall Fri5 College　Of　International　Relations JANG YOUNGJOO 2

Campus

KIC

Class Venue

KOSHINKAN　KS201

Language

English

Course Outline and Method

This course explores the politics and foreign policy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea). The focus is to think critically about the North Korea’s pressing issues of security (namely nuclear and missile development) and external behaviors based on our conceptual/ theoretical understandings and knowledge of International Relations. The course is formed by four sections. In the first section, we overview and understand general information about and contemporary issues that the international community faces about North Korea in a broader context of International Relations. In the second section, we explore the history of North Korea. Tracing back to the Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula, we look into how North Korea was established and how its political and social systems including its ideology were built. The third section covers and evaluates international efforts to deal with the North Korean leadership in the post-Cold War era. Here we primarily explore North Korea’s foreign policy behavior vis-à-vis the United States, South Korea, Japan, and China. The final section looks into specific debates: the two Koreas’ unification, the North Korea’s cultural diplomacy, North Korea’s relation with pro-North organization in Japan, and the prospect for North Korea’s future.

Student Attainment Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

・improve their ability to think critically and analytically about North Korea and its nuclear development from multiple perspectives;
・take into account the historical, political, and international foundations of North Korea today;
・understand the specific local context in which North Korean issues originate from and relate it to the larger scholarly literature and policy debates pertaining to North Korea.

Recommended Preparatory Course

Course Schedule

Lecture/Instructor（When there are multiple instructors) Theme
Keyword, References and Supplementary Information
week 1

Course introduction, Description and class organization

Basic data about North Korea: CIA World Factbook, available sources from North Korea

Week 2

Debates about North Korea

Contemporary issues (security, economy, and human rights)

Week 3

History of North Korea: during the WWII

Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula, the activists’ protests in the northern part of Korea

Week 4

Making of North Korea: post-WWII

Kim Il-sung’s making of North Korea

Week 5

Ideology and domestic politics in North Korea

Juche (self-reliance), Korean Workers’ Party

Week 6

Military, economy and society in North Korea

Korean People’s Army, economy (centrally controlled v.s. private market), and the local networks

Week 7

Foreign relations: the United States

Nuclear crises and negotiation

Week 8

Inter-Korean relations

Nuclear crises, unification, and negotiation

Week 9

Foreign relations: Japan

Issues of history, abduction, and negotiation

Week 10

Foreign relations: China

Patron state with dilemma

Week 11

Unification of the two Koreas

Korea Confederation, the gap between the two Koreas, North Korean defectors

Week 12

North Korea and pro-North organization in Japan:

General Association of Korean Residents in Japan and Korean schools

Week 13

North Korea’s cultural diplomacy

Tourism and others

Week 14

Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula

US-DPRK Singapore summit, nuclear control?

Week 15

Wrap-up

The value of critical thinking from multiple perspectives, end-of-term report

Class Format

100% face-to-face.

Recommendations for Private Study

Students are required to finish reading assignments before they come to the classes and be ready for questions and discussions in the classes.

Grade Evaluation Method

Kind Percentage Grading Criteria etc.
Final Examination (Written)

Report Examination
(A report to be submitted by the unified deadline)

Exams and/or Reports other than those stated above, and Continuous Assessment　
(Evaluation of Everyday Performance in Class)		 100

50%: Class participation including attendance and class discussion
50%: End of Term report (The detail instruction will be given in class)
Notes: No credit will be given if you absent classes for 5 times.

Grade Evaluation Method （Note）

No credit will be given if you absent classes for 5 times.
The above course schedule may get changed depending on circumstances.

Advice to Students on Study and Research Methods

Textbooks

Textbooks （Frequency of Use, Note）

Reference Books

Title Author Publisher ISBN Code Comment
The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stanlinist Utopia Andrei Lankov Oxford University Press 9780199390038
The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future Victor Cha HarperCollins 9780062906366
North Korea: Ideology, Politics, Economy Han. S. Park Prentice Hall 9780131021613

Reference Books （Frequency of Use, Note）

Web Pages for Reference

How to Communicate with the Instructor In and Out of Class(Including Instructor Contact Information)

Communication Paper,Learning Management System （manaba+R）,Talk with Students

Other Comments

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URL:http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp//students/pathways-future/course/curriculum.html