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In 2010, while working on a PhD in South Korea, Andray Abrahamian visited the other Korea, a country he had studied for years but never seen. He returned determined to find a way to work closely with North Koreans. Ten years and more than thirty visits later, Being in North Korea tells the story of his experiences helping set up and run Choson Exchange, a non-profit that teaches North Koreans about entrepreneurship and economic policy.
Abrahamian was provided a unique vantage into life in North Korea that belies stereotypes rampant in the media, revealing instead North Koreans as individuals ranging from true believers in the system to cynics wishing the Stalinist experiment would just end; from introverts to bubbly chatterboxes, optimists to pessimists. He sees a North Korea that is changing, invalidating some assumptions held in the West, but perhaps reinforcing others.
Amid his stories of coping with the North Korean system, of the foreigners who frequent Pyongyang, and of everyday relationships, Abrahamian explores the challenges of teaching the inherently political subject of economics in a system where everyone must self-regulate their own minds; he looks at the role of women in the North Korean economy, and their exclusion from leadership; and he discusses how information is restricted, propaganda is distributed and internalized, and even how Pyongyang’s nominally illicit property market functions. Along with these stories, he interweaves the historical events that have led to today’s North Korea.
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Praise for Andray Abrahamian’s Being in North Korea
“By far the most informative book I’ve read on life in North Korea. Andray Abrahamian writes very entertainingly and knows what he’s talking about. This is a rich and surprisingly revealing portrait of a super-secretive society.”
— Michael Palin
“Quite simply, a must-read for anybody going to North Korea. For everybody else, it is a literary excursion of the best kind — humane, funny in ways you will never expect, grim when it should be, and rich beyond belief with hard-won expertise.”
— Evan Osnos, Staff Writer, The New Yorker
“Each page of Being in North Korea is a fresh revelation. Andray Abrahamian has spent more time in North Korea than anybody I know and he’s such a knowledgeable and amusing guide that you’ll feel like you’ve had the privilege of an exclusive tour by the time you finish reading his book.”
— Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times
“Few North Korea watchers have the breadth and depth of experiences like Andray Abrahamian. Ranging from running a nonprofit training North Koreans on entrepreneurship to undertaking academic studies as a PhD-trained scholar, the author’s work highlights his valuable perceptions about North Korea’s society and markets. Being in North Korea captures Abrahamian’s experiences in a way that informs and entertains.” — John S. Park, Harvard University
“What is it like over there? This simple but at the same time immensely difficult question is what Abrahamian seeks to answer. Having worked in North Korea and speaking the language, he is the right person for such an endeavor. He identifies himself as an “engager,” but he is far from being apologetic. Based on years of hands-on experience working with an NGO that offers capacity building to North Koreans, he paints a remarkably colorful, detailed, and multifaceted image of what Westerners, in his words, often experience as a ‘no’ society.”
— Rüdiger Frank, Professor, University of Vienna
by Andray Abrahamian (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 34 ratings
273 pages
16 July 2020
About the Author
Andray Abrahamian is a non-resident fellow at the Korea Economic Institute, a visiting scholar at George Mason University Korea, and a senior adjunct fellow at Pacific Forum. During the 2018-19 academic year, he was the Koret Fellow in Korean Studies at Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.
Andray was heavily involved in Choson Exchange, a nonprofit organization that trains North Koreans in economic policy and entrepreneurship, where he previously served as executive director and research director. That work, along with sporting exchanges and a TB project, has taken him to the DPRK over 30 times. He has also lived in Myanmar, where he taught at Yangon University and consulted for a risk management company. His research comparing the two countries resulted in the publication of North Korea and Myanmar: Divergent Paths (McFarland, 2018). His expert commentary on Korea and Myanmar has appeared in numerous outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, and Reuters.
Andray holds a PhD in international relations from the University of Ulsan, South Korea, and an MA from the University of Sussex, where he studied media discourse on North Korea and the U.S.-ROK alliance. He speaks Korean, sometimes with a Pyongyang accent.--This text refers to the paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
4.4 out of 5 stars 34 ratings
Customer reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
34 global ratings
Top review from Australia
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and engagingReviewed in Australia on 29 January 2021
True confession - I met Andray, when he was leading a trip in the DPRK, and I knew before reading the book that I would enjoy his observations and humour. This book offers an enlightening and balanced discussion of North Korean mores and customs in the context of rapidly changing international economies as well as more personal observations on people the author met and worked with in the country and abroad. The book is a great explainer of the history as well as current pressures on DPRK systems and people, without being dry or overly academic. It's a good read, it's informative, it made me think, and yes it made me laugh.
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Top reviews from other countries
stalina
5.0 out of 5 stars Great work, view from the insight, supported by years of research and first hand experience.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 December 2020
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You might have heard something about North Korea, and you might be even remotely interested in learning more about it. Then look no further, this is the book for you.
The author is knowledgeable with hands on experience of the subject. His insight is very personal, and his research is remarkable. Book is very well structured, with good humour and a joy to read from first page to last. Subject is not always easy, but humour and empathy helps the author to navigate through some very dark parts.
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Stuart J. Leighton
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, and up there with the great books about DPRK.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 August 2020
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Very interesting read that gives a historical and up to date insight into life in North Korea, told by a guy who has spent many years visiting the country providing business training to North Koreans with his NGO. Abrahamian does a great job commenting on the country, his efforts to educate both male and female entrepreneurs as well as discussing what might lie ahead for the DPRK. Funny, heartwarming and in places a little depressing, this book is up there in strength with the great books about North Korea, such as Barbara Demick's 'Nothing to Envy'. If you are interested in gaining more knowledge about DPRK, this is a must-read. Thoroughly enjoyed reading.
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Barry DeFord
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and candidReviewed in Canada on 22 October 2020
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A good and engaging read.
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K. Dekleva
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb insider’s view of life in the DPRKReviewed in the United States on 23 July 2020
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I confess my bias, having met Andray personally and having read most of his other writings, which are very, very good. But this book is his best. It is a deeply personal and human account of how North Koreans manage their day to day lives. Having traveled to the DPRK over 25-30 times, and speaking fluent Korean, he brings out their humanity, grit, sense of nationhood, and sheer resilience. Andray makes the people and country come alive, in in odd, peculiar way. And that’s impressive, for unless one has lived or traveled to theDPRK or to other similarly controlled societies (e.g. former Stalinist regimes) or currently, Turkmenistan, it’s hard to appreciate the DPRK’s way of life. Andray’s book is a good companion read to the works of Felix Abt and Andrei Lankov, as well as the fiction ofJames Church, a fascinating portrait of everyday life in the Hermit Kingdom. Congratulations Andray on an excellent, must-read book for any person interested in the DPRK.
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Michael MacArthur Bosack
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for seasoned North Korea hands and novices alikeReviewed in the United States on 9 September 2020
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If you're looking for an insightful, useful, and readable account on North Korea, this is the best option available today.
I say this having studied and worked on North Korea issues for over a decade. All too often, commentary on the country carries the baggage of personal politics and DPRK tropes, but not Abrahamian's book. He brings a scholar and practitioner's view to the subject, all in a very personal way. Abrahamian's experiences serve as case studies in illustrating key points about North Korean life, history, and politics, and he delivers them with passion and wit.
I found this book extremely useful in filling gaps in my own knowledge on North Korea, and I only wish I had something like it when I first started studying the country years ago.
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