korea (north)

"A searing story of starvation and survival in North Korea, followed by a dramatic escape, rescue by activists and Christian missionaries, and success in the United States thanks to newfound faith and courage Inside the hidden and mysterious world of North Korea, Joseph Kim lived a young boy's normal life until he was five. Then disaster struck: the first wave of the Great Famine, a long, terrible ordeal that killed millions, including his father, and sent others, like his mother and only sister, on desperate escape routes into China. Alone on the streets, Joseph learned to beg and steal. He had nothing but a street-hardened survival instinct. Finally, in desperation, he too crossed a frozen river to escape to China. There a kindly Christian woman took him in, kept him hidden from the authorities, and gave him hope. Soon, through an underground network of activists, he was spirited to the American consulate, and became one of just a handful of North Koreans to be brought to the U.S. as refugees. Joseph knew no English and had never been a good student. Yet the kindness of his foster family changed his life. He turned a new leaf, became a dedicated student, mastered English, and made it to college, where he is now thriving thanks to his faith and inner strength. Under the Same Sky is an unforgettable story of suffering and redemption"--.

"From the bestselling author of Escape from Camp 14, the murderous rise of North Korea's founding dictator and the fighter pilot who faked him out In The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot, New York Times bestselling author Blaine Harden tells the riveting story of how Kim Il Sung grabbed power and plunged his country into war against the United States while the youngest fighter pilot in his air force was playing a high-risk game of deception--and escape. As Kim ascended from Soviet puppet to godlike ruler, No Kum Sok noisily pretended to love his Great Leader. That is, until he swiped a Soviet MiG-15 and delivered it to the Americans, not knowing they were offering a $100,000 bounty for the warplane (the equivalent of nearly one million dollars today). The theft--just weeks after the Korean War ended in July 1953--electrified the world and incited Kim's bloody vengeance. During the Korean War the United States brutally carpet bombed the North, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians and giving the Kim dynasty, as Harden reveals, the fact-based narrative it would use to this day to sell paranoia and hatred of Americans. Drawing on documents from Chinese and Russian archives about the role of Mao and Stalin in Kim's shadowy rise, as well as from never-before-released U.S. intelligence and interrogation files, Harden gives us a heart-pounding escape adventure and an entirely new way to understand the world's longest-lasting totalitarian state"--.

U.S. president Jack Ryan enlists the help of "The Campus," a secret organization run by Ryan's son, Jack Ryan Jr., to put a stop to a North Korean nuclear weapons program targeting the U.S.

Every day, three times a day, the students march in two straight lines, singing praises to Kim Jong-il and North Korea--"without you there is no motherland. Without you, there is no us." Suki Kim has come to North Korea to teach English but it is 2011 and all the universities have been shut down for an entire year, the students sent to construction fields--all except for the 270 students of the all-male Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. As the weeks pass, Suki is mystified at how easily her students lie and how devoted they are to the regime. As she begins to hint at the life outside of North Korea, her students offer glimpses of their private selves--proving that all their curiosity has not yet been extinguished. Then Kim Jong-il dies and the students are devastated. She wonders whether the gulf between their world and hers can ever be bridged. Suki Kim was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea and now lives in New York.

Examines the rule of the Korean dictator who was premier, and then president, of North Korea until his death.

"Offers an insider's analysis of developments on the Korean peninsula and how North Korea was able to develop nuclear weapons. Provides a first-hand account of how the Six-Party Talks were initiated, with a step-by-step review of each round of negotiations, detailing the national interests of the key players"--Provided by publisher.

Offers a brief overview of the life and rule of Kim Il Sung, the ruler of North Korea who was responsible for starting a war that brought the world to the brink of nuclear holocaust.

Follows the lives of six North Korean citizens over fifteen years, bringing to life what it means to live under a repressive totalitarian regime that is, by choice, not connected to the Internet, where displays of affection are punished, informants are rewarded, and an offhand remark can send a person to the gulag for life.

Chronicles the lives of six North Koreans over a span of fifteen years, exploring how the lives of ordinary citizens were impacted by key social, political, and economic events of the time.