An Essay on the North Korean Regime’s Durability : A Comparative Authoritarianism Perspective (2017.06)

• Author : Jae-Kwan Jung
• Journal : International Journal of Korean Unification Studies
• Publisher : Korea Institute for National Unification
• Volume : 26(1)
• Publication Date : June, 2017
• Abstract : How could North Korea have been sustained so far despite that it has been considered as a failed state? Why there has been no coup d’état or rebellion in North Korea? This article aims to seek the sources of the North Korean regime’s durability by drawing on the insights of comparative authoritarianism that has made remarkable progress in the past decade. According to comparative authoritarianism, regime durability varies by the type of authoritarianism. North Korea is classified as a mix of personalist and one-party dictatorship, which is considered more durable than other types of dictatorships. However, this type of dictatorship is most likely to break down by a coup or rebellion. This article thus proposes a multi-level theory of rebellion and calls for an analysis of the North Korean regime’s durability based on the multi-level theory. As a theoretical hypothesis, we also speculate the reason why the North Korean regime shows a surprising longevity is that it developed an elite control system that has maintained an ideological and organizational unity of elites and their loyalty to the regime, thereby removing the seed of rebellion. As long as its elite control system functions effectively, it is unlikely that the North Korean regime collapses by a coup or rebellion.

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