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Kim Jong Un, the boss of firing, ousts his uncle

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

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Is North Korea evil and clownish?

SEOUL, South Korea — You’ll learn far more about what’s going on in North Korea when you leave the country, several former residents of the country have told GlobalPost.

By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World

May 17, 2013

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The Real North Korea

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

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Obituary: Korea’s unification movement (1998-2013)

SEOUL, South Korea — Now that North Korea has recalled its workers from the Kaesong Industrial Zone — an area north of the DMZ where hundreds of South Korean managers oversee 51,000 North Korean laborers — it’s farewell to hope for a peaceful unification, at least for now.

By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World

Apr 8, 2013

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Kim Jong Un in the shadow of the Dear Leader?

SEOUL, South Korea — He was once thought to be a Swiss-educated cosmopolitan taking the side of reform in North Korea. But some say Tuesday’s nuclear test has squandered hopes that Kim Jong Un will open the militarized nation to the world.

By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World

Feb 15, 2013

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Watching Titanic in Pyongyang

What the first systematic survey of North Korean refugees tells us about life inside the Hermit Kingdom, and about whether the regime might be ready to fall.

By Geoffrey Cain
Washington Monthly

Jul 1, 2011

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Mao’s Great Famine

In the late 1950s, thousands of Chinese farmers starved to death while toiling on massive irrigation projects, under orders to meet Mao Zedong’s outlandish expectations for growth. Most laborers didn’t speak up because they feared the authorities would label them rightists.

By Geoffrey Cain
The Christian Science Monitor

Nov 2, 2010

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What to read next:

How China Perfected the Surveillance State

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.

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Thanks to AI, Apple’s China problem is only getting worse

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.

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