Leveraging Uneven Cooperation: Socialist Assistance and the Rise of North Korea, 1945-1965

Leveraging Uneven Cooperation: Socialist Assistance and the Rise of North Korea, 1945-1965
This dissertation examines the transformation of exchanges between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Soviet-led socialist bloc, arguing that this structural change from “selfless” assistance to equal cooperation accelerated the realization of Juche (meaning self-reliance) in North Korea from 1945 to 1965. Based on a range of North Korean publications and Russian archival documents, this dissertation analyzes how intra-bloc flows of experts and knowledge for mass industrial production steered North Korea’s quest for uplifting the nation through “North Korean” techno-science. Revising politics-centered, nation-centric accounts of North Korean history, this dissertation shows how the global pursuit of a strong economy, changing geopolitical situations, increasing costs of “socialist cooperation,” and the short-term success of homegrown technologies coincided to propel North Korean planners to enact Juche as a mode of development and lasting national identity. Offering an original narrative of North Korea’s exploitation of socialist assistance, this dissertation provides a useful lens to better understand the origins of North Korea’s diplomacy and techno-scientific policy-making, tracing the roots of its technological confidence to defy the U.S.-led global order.

Author

Donghyun Woo

Defended in

1 Jan 2022 – 30 Nov 2022

PhD defended at

University of California, Los Angeles

Specialisation

Humanities

Region

Global Asia (Asia and other parts of the World)
East Asia
North Korea

Theme

National politics
History
Health and Medicine
Globalisation