North Korea Is Not Vietnam
March 9, 2020
Expecting the brutally repressive state to liberalize magically the way Vietnam did is a pipe dream.
By Geoffrey Cain
The New Republic
Feb 28, 2019
Expecting the brutally repressive state to liberalize magically the way Vietnam did is a pipe dream.
By Geoffrey Cain
The New Republic
Feb 28, 2019
SEOUL, South Korea — It’s been an unusually quiet quarter for North Korea, which has avoided the occasional exchange of bellicose bluster with the US and South Korea, and has not tested a much-prophesized fourth nuclear bomb.
By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World
Oct 6, 2014
SEOUL, South Korea — “So you think you can discuss military issues without even having served?” Conservative lawmaker Han Gi-ho hurled that question at conscientious objector Lim Tae-hoon in a parliamentary hearing. “You didn’t even go!”
By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World
Sep 22, 2014
SEOUL, South Korea — Menacing battalions of police, wearing neon yellow uniforms and carrying anti-riot shields, regularly march through the South Korean capital, at times showing up en masse to small and harmless protests.
By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World
Aug 5, 2014
SEOUL, South Korea — On Sunday, North Korea announced that Kim Jong Un’s uncle, the powerful guiding-hand regent, had been excommunicated from the leadership.
By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World
Dec 13, 2013
SEOUL, South Korea — In a faraway kingdom, a chubby, eccentrically dressed dictator has purged his number-two man, a veteran ally of the ruling dynasty. The second-in-command, a well-known advocate of reform, may have veered too far from his boss and challenged the party line, according to an state propaganda broadcast on Monday.
By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World
Dec 9, 2013
SEOUL, South Korea — The news yesterday that Kim Jong Un purged his uncle and de facto number two leader of North Korea, Jang Sung Taek, has all the trappings you’d expect from a mysterious and ruthless dictatorship.
By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World
Dec 4, 2013
SEOUL, South Korea — The news today that North Korea removed Jang Sung Taek, the powerful uncle of Kim Jong Un and vice chair of the body that heads the military, could amount to the boy dictator’s greatest leadership shake-up yet.
By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World
Dec 3, 2013
SEOUL, South Korea — Next month will be a big one for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, as his nation hosts various conspicuous, cultish festivities. On Dec. 12, North Korean state media will probably memorialize its satellite launch one year ago, an early boost to Kim Jong Un’s prestige.
By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World
Nov 20, 2013
For a glimpse into life in North Korea, take a peek into the country’s math textbooks. “During the Fatherland Liberation War [North Korea’s official name for the Korean War] the brave uncles of Korean People’s Army killed 265 American Imperial bastards in the first battle,” reads one question.
By Geoffrey Cain
The Christian Science Monitor
May 10, 2013
What to read next:
Geoffrey Cain on Investigative Journalism, Authoritarian Power, and The Perfect Police State | In a wide-ranging conversation with Jennifer Grossman, CEO of The Atlas Society, investigative journalist Geoffrey Cain reflects on years spent reporting inside some of the world’s most restrictive regimes — and on the research behind his book The Perfect Police State: An Undercover Odyssey into China’s Terrifying Surveillance Dystopia of the Future.
For years, Tim Cook insisted Apple could change China from the inside. Instead, China changed Apple.
The latest evidence? Apple spent billions developing cutting-edge electric vehicle battery technology with Chinese automaker BYD, only to watch its innovations become the cornerstone of BYD’s rise to global electric vehicle dominance. Apple walked away with nothing. China walked away with everything.
This isn’t just another story about corporate research and development gone wrong. It’s a cautionary tale about how even America’s most valuable company has become trapped in China’s web of technological control — and how that web is about to tighten even further.