This first book on Kim Jong-un's powerful sister, tipped to be his successor, is a readable, jaw-dropping insight into a secretive and dangerous dynasty.
Sung-Yoon Lee is a scholar of Korean and East Asian studies and a specialist on North Korea. He is the Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor in Korean Studies and Assistant Professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and Faculty Associate at the Program on US-Japan Relations, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. Dr Lee has advised senior-most officials in the US government and is an outspoken proponent of several policies aimed at changing the North Korean regime towards a path of denuclearization and improvement of human rights, while keeping the peace and stability in northeast Asia. In 2013, the Guardian called Lee '[a]mong the most insightful and prescient chroniclers'. The Sister is his first book.
A detailed, insightful study . . . Lee is excellent on the regime’s
reliance on suppressing, distorting and manipulating information .
. . His vivid account of surreal, intractable negotiations with the
Kim siblings underlines The Sister’s central insight: Kim Yo Jong
is very much part of the family
*The Guardian*
Explosive . . . a ground-breaking and revealing new book
*Daily Mail*
Riveting, unique, policy-relevant narrative of the first order . .
. Lee sees through the North Korean regime's antics, maskirovka,
and propaganda – much of it the work of Kim Yo Jong – as does no
other. A work of penetrating analysis, caustic wit, and elegant
prose
*James Stavridis, PhD., Admiral in US Navy (Retired), and former
Supreme Allied Commander at NATO*
A riveting profile of the rise of the current leader’s sister, Kim
Yo Jong, and the resilience of the Kim regime
*Times Literary Supplement*
Extraordinarily well researched . . . an invaluable resource in
understanding one of the most intriguing and least known figures in
today’s North Korea
*Stephen E. Biegun, United States Special Representative for
North Korea, 2018-2021 and Deputy Secretary of State, 2021-2022
*
Dr Lee deftly skewers the misperceptions of Kim Yo Jong to
insightfully assess her longstanding and powerful role.
Comprehensive, provocative, and eloquently written. Should be
required reading for policymakers and pundits trying to decipher
the North Korean Game of Thrones
*Bruce Klingner, former Deputy Division Chief for Korea, CIA;
former North Korea Analyst, DIA, Senior Research Fellow, Asian
Studies Center, The Heritage Foundation*
Mr Lee’s book is not just a profile of a central figure in what is
arguably the world’s most brutal dictatorship, but also of her
clan. By showing how the family operates, The Sister offers
insights into the workings of the only hereditary monarchy to style
itself as communist; a regime willing to let millions starve while
it spends billions on weapons
*The Economist*
In The Sister, Sung-Yoon Lee offers a trenchant analysis of the Kim
Jong Un regime and his sister's role in propagating their cult of
personality. He employs his deep knowledge of the subject and his
fine literary skills to tell a tale that is both fascinating and
disturbing
*Dr Sue Mi Terry, Director of the Asia Program, Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars*
As a former top North Korea official in charge of the supreme
leader's slush funds, I have intimate knowledge of the corrupt and
very opaque workings of the Kim dynasty. The Sister is revelatory.
It is a most rare and enlightening analysis of the Kim regime's
deceptions and perversions, and Kim Yo Jong's role in this
existential game . . . [an] astute, acerbic, and, at times, even
amusing exposé of the pathological ways of the North Korean
dynasty
*Ri Jong Ho, former Chairman of the Korea Kum-Kang Economic
Development Group (KKG) of the National Defense Commission,
DPRK*
This captivating, well-researched portrait of one of the world's
most secretive and powerful women offers a rare glimpse into the
heart of North Korea's leadership and the complexities of its
political landscape
*Bradley Hope, author of The Rebel and the Kingdom and
co-founder of Project Brazen*
Dr Lee was instrumental in our lawsuit against North Korea for the
kidnapping, torture, and extrajudicial killing of our son, Otto.
During the trial in a federal court in DC, the entire courtroom and
the press were mesmerized by his deep knowledge of the
concentration camp known as North Korea. Dr. Lee is able to explain
North Korea's behaviour in a way that compels action. Now, he has
put his impressive skills to weave a gripping tale on the inner
workings of the criminal organization known as North Korea and the
sister's sinister role in this scheme
*Fred and Cindy Warmbier, plaintiffs in Warmbier v.
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2018)*
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