Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia

World Association for Triple Helix and Future Strategy Studies (세계트리플헬릭스미래전략학회)
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North Korean Leaders' Personality Reflection on Provocation Patterns: Narcissism and Fear

  • Lim, Sora (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies) ;
  • Ko, Sunghwah (Graduate School of International and Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies)
  • Published : 2020.12.31
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Abstract

Over the last 70 years, South Korea has gone through countless provocations from North Korea. Provocation is something that must be delicately calculated before the actual action, since it can be extended to a serious conflict. Among the possible factors, this paper focuses on the leader's characteristic, because 1) under North Korean dictatorship, the leader's thoughts are critical influence to policies and 2) personal characteristic, especially if it is the dictator's, hardly changes even when the external circumstances change. The purpose of this paper is in analyzing the correlations between North Korean leader's characteristics and provocation pattern. First, three generations of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un's personal characteristics will be described. Next, particular provocation features in respective leader's period will follow. Lastly, how each leader's characteristic and concerns were reflected on the provocations will be analyzed.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This paper is supported by the 2020 Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund.

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