Welcome to NK Leadership Watch

This is my attempt to stake a claim in the tiny world of blogs and web resources that focus on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea.  Pyongyangology (or Pyongyang watching) is more art than science.  The North Koreans are experts at dis- and mis-information, and the country does an excellent job at warding off the scrutiny of most forms of academic enquiry.  And yet, this is also a failure on the part of external observers (both the West and East) who have restricted studying the DPRK to narrow interests such as human rights, trans-national and trans-border problems, strategic weapons, and arms proliferation.  This blog will focus on North Korea’s leadership in the person of Kim Jong-il and those power organizations under his direct and indirect control including the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP), the National Defense Commission (NDC) and the DPRK Government.