To the North of the 38th Parallel: Life in North Korea

North Korea remains highly classified but it’s no longer a “black box” to the world. It appears that the radical social experiment that began there in the 1940s is coming to an end. Behind this experiment are the destinies of people and countless lives. In his book, prominent Asia scholar and commentator Andrei Lankov discusses how these lives were lived and what is happening in the country today.
Lankov has visited North Korea many times, meeting people from all walks of life. These include state security officers and smugglers, North Korean nouveau riche and defectors, intellectuals (whose lives are prestigious yet still dangerous), and drivers (whose jobs are both safe and prestigious).
The book covers technology, from exotic gas-generator engines to the North Korean internet, and monuments to the country’s leaders, as well as houses and trains, hunger and delicacies. It describes the daily lives of North Koreans, their concerns, anxieties, and joys. It is a book about North Korea’s slow and reluctant opening to the world.

Moscow: Alpina Non-Fiction, 2020.