The official website of
the bestselling author

famine

famine

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

Search Articles

What to read next: