#135 Dave Maxwell on North Korea and Influence Operations

#135 Dave Maxwell on North Korea and Influence Operations

The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association.

During this episode, Dave Maxwell discusses the importance of human rights upfront, influence campaigns, the pursuit of a free and unified Korea, resting on a foundation of deterrence and defense in the context of countering North Korea.

Research QuestionsDave suggests technologies be developed which help Western governments access and penetrate North Korea. Also, he believes the potential succession in North Korea is an important research area, as well as mapping out the entire human terrain of key personalities and communicators. He also asks: how can we use defectors and escapees to help with the above research projects and bridge the North and the South. Finally, Dave thinks these “big 5” questions related to North Korea are important:

  1. What do we want to achieve in Korea?
  2. What is the acceptable durable political arrangement that will protect, serve, and advance US and ROK/US Alliance interests on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia?
  3. Who does Kim fear more: The US or the Korean people in the north? (Note it is the Korean people armed with information knowledge of life in South Korea)
  4. Do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the seven decades old strategy of subversion, coercion-extortion (blackmail diplomacy), and use of force to achieve unification dominated by the Guerrilla Dynasty and Gulag State in order to ensure the survival of the mafia like crime family cult known as Kim family regime?
  5. In support of that strategy do we believe that Kim Jong-un has abandoned the objective to split the ROK/US Alliance and get US forces off the peninsula?  Has KJU given up his divide to conquer strategy – divide the alliance to conquer the ROK?

Resources:

Guest Bio: David Maxwell is a retired US Army Special Forces Colonel and has spent more than 30 years in Asia as a practitioner and specializes in North Korea and East Asia Security Affairs and irregular, unconventional, and political warfare. He is the Editor of Small Wars Journal. He is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Senior Fellow at the Global Peace Foundation (where he focuses on a free and unified Korea), and a Senior Advisor to the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy.

About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain.

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

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Here are the four books I mentioned.  I added the work of fiction (Orphan Master’s Son) because it really “operationalizes”  the north Korean society and the Songbun system.  I also included the entire list below it.

  1. North Korea in a Nutshell: A Contemporary Overview By Kongdan Oh and Ralph Hassig. Many fine and useful area studies have been done by the CIA and the DIA, the military services, and even the historical Special Operations Research Office (SORO) at American University.  In Special Forces we depend on area studies for fundamental knowledge of target countries. I am confident I have read every area study on north Korea.  With no disrespect intended to these fine organizations, there is no better area study than North Korea in A Nutshell. But this is no dry area study. This is a very well written book that flows smoothly, and while filled with critical facts about the regime, it provides context for these facts and offers perspectives that help the reader to understand how the geography, history, culture, and the regime’s revolutionary thinking influence policy, strategy, and actions. This is a must read first priority book.
  1. Marked For Life: Songbun: The North Korean Social Classification System, by Robert Collins, published by the Committee for Human Rights North Korean the seminal work on how the north Korean society is organized and managed by the Kim Family Regime.  Much of the research is based on first person interviews in Korean with more than 75 defectors as well as many primary source documents from north Korea.
  1. The Orphan Master’s Son, by Adam Johnson.  Pulitzer Prize work of fiction that despite a rather far fetched plot really “operationalizes” and brings to life the social system described by Robert Collins work on Songbun.
  1. Becoming Kim Jong-un: A Former CIA Officer’s Insights into North Korea’s Enigmatic Young Dictator, by Dr. Jung H. Pak.  Arguably the best biography of Kim Jong-un.
  1. Army of the Indoctrinated: The Suryong, the Soldier, and Information in the KPA, George Hutchinson Apr 26, 2022 HRNK, https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Hutchinson_KPA_web_0426.pdf

Books and papers to consider reading (not in any order of priority):

  1. North Korea in a Nutshell: A Contemporary Overview By Kongdan Oh and Ralph Hassig. Many fine and useful area studies have been done by the CIA and the DIA, the military services, and even the historical Special Operations Research Office (SORO) at American University.  In Special Forces we depend on area studies for fundamental knowledge of target countries. I am confident I have read every area study on north Korea.  With no disrespect intended to these fine organizations, there is no better area study than North Korea in A Nutshell.
  2. Korea on the Brink – GEN (RET) John Wickham – although dated it is illustrative of the complexity of the Korean situation. Probably the only memoir of a US Korea commander in the last 30 years.
  3. Red Rogue: The Persistent Challenge of North Korea, by Bruce Bechtol – excellent analysis of the north Korean military threat.
  4. Defiant Failed State: The North Korean Threat to International Security, by Bruce Bechtol – analysis of the regime, instability, attack and collapse as well as its illicit activities.
  1. Criminal Sovereignty: Understanding North Korea’s Illicit International Activities, by Paul Rexton Kan, Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. and Robert M. Collins – one of the best analyses of north Koreas illicit activities from proliferation to drugs, counterfeiting, and money laundering, etc.
  2. Over the Line : North Korea’s Negotiating Strategy – by Chuck Downs. Best insights into how north Korea negotiates.  Best current companion to Admiral C. Turner Joy’s books- Negotiating While Fighting: Diary of Admiral C.Turner Joy at the Korean Armistice Conference (Hoover archival documentaries) and How Communists Negotiate.
  3. North Korean Special Forces (Naval Institute Special Warfare Series) by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr.
  4. Guerrilla Dynasty (2d edition) by Adrian Buzo – Best understanding of the north Korean regime.  Example quote (about how Kim Il Sung established the north Korean regime): In the course of this struggle against factional opponents, for the first time Kim began to emphasize nationalism as a means of rallying the population to the enormous sacrifices needed for post-war recovery.  This was a nationalism that first took shape in the environment of the anti-Japanese guerrilla movement and developed into a creed through the destruction of both the non-Communist nationalist forces and much of the leftist intellectual tradition of the domestic Communists.  Kim’s nationalism did not draw inspiration from Korean history, nor did it dwell on past cultural achievements, for the serious study of history and traditional culture soon effectively ceased in the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea].  Rather, DPRK nationalism drew inspiration from the Spartan outlook of the former Manchurian guerrillas.  It was a harsh nationalism that dwelt on past wrongs and promises of retribution for “national traitors” and their foreign backers.  DPRK nationalism stressed the “purity” of all things Korean against the “contamination” of foreign ideas, and inculcated in the population a sense of fear and animosity toward the outside world.  Above all, DPRK nationalism stressed that the guerrilla ethos was not only the supreme, but also the only legitimate basis on which to reconstitute a reunified Korea. (emphasis added)
  1. Paper: “Patterns of Collapse” by Robert Collins.  This paper is a summary of Mr. Collins thesis on the 7 Phases of north Korean collapse and is the foundation for the analysis of indications and warnings of north Korean instability and regime collapse.
  2. “North Korea’s Strategy” by Stephen Bradner,  Mr. Bradner is the Special Advisor to the Commander of UNC/CFC/USFK and has been in Korea since 1955 serving the command and has retired in 2013 and will not be replaced.  This is the best synopsis of the north Korean regime and its strategy.
  3. The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves — And Why It Matters, by B.R. Myers.  One of the most important books for understanding north Korea, the regime, and the Korean people.
  4. The Two Koreas: Revised And Updated A Contemporary History by Don Oberdorfer – probably one of the best popular overviews of the history of Korea.  Provides a good historical foundation.
  5. Marked For Life: Songbun:  The North Korean Social Classification System, by Robert Collins, published by the Committee for Human Rights North Korean the seminal work on how the north Korean society is organized and managed by the Kim Family Regime.  Much of the research is based on first person interviews in Korean with more than 75 defectors as well as many primary source documents from north Korea.
  6. The Orphan Master’s Son, by Adam Johnson.  Pulitzer Prize work of fiction that despite a rather far fetched plot really “operationalizes” and brings to life the social system described by Robert Collins work on Songbun.
  7. Coercion, Control, Surveillance, and Punishment: An Examination of the North Korea Police State: Second Edition by Ken Gause published by the Committee on North Korean Human Rights.  Like Robert Collins work this provides tremendous insights into how north Korea is organized and run.
  8. The Last Days of Kim Jong Il, by Dr. Bruce Bechtol, 2013.  Just published describes the transition from Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong –un with current analysis up through the February 2013 nuclear test.
  9. Brothers At War: The Unending Conflict in Korea by Sheila Miyoshi Jager.  This is the best book recently published on the comprehensive history of the Korean conflict.
  10. Becoming Kim Jong-un: A Former CIA Officer’s Insights into North Korea’s Enigmatic Young Dictator. By Dr. Jung H. Pak.  Arguably the best biography of Kim Jong-un.
  11. The Hidden People of North Korea: Everyday Life in the Hermit Kingdom 2d Edition, (2015) by Ralph Hassig and Kongdan Oh
  12. North Korean House of Cards, (2015) Ken Gause, published by HRNK.
  13. Pyongyang Republic; The Capital of Human Right Denial (2016) Robert Collins, published by HRNK.
  14. Theater-level Command and Alliance Decision-Making Architecture in Korea (2016) Colonel Shawn P. Creamer, U.S. Army.  The best description of Korean command relationships that has been published. http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/1498534150_add_file_3.pdf
  15. Army of the Indoctrinated: The Suryong, the Soldier, and Information in the KPA, George Hutchinson Apr 26, 2022 HRNK, https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Hutchinson_KPA_web_0426.pdf
  16. The United Nations Command and the Sending States (2016)Colonel Shawn P. Creamer, U.S. Army, http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/2017FW-4.pdf
  17. The Organization and Guidance Department:  The Control Tower of Human Rights Denial Robert Collins, (2019) (https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/Collins_OGD_Web.pdf)
  18. North Korean Military Proliferation in the Middle East and Africa: Enabling Violence and Instability by Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. No one knows more about north Korean proliferation than Dr. Bechtol and this is a critical national security issues that is too often ignored.