%0 Journal Article
%T Defining the Nature and Future of the Party¨CMilitary Relations in North Korea
%A Jongseok Woo
%J Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs
%@ 2349-0039
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/2347797018798262
%X Abstract Since Kim Jong-il officially launched his Songun politics in 1998, conflicting assessments have generated two competing arguments regarding the political role of the Korean People¡¯s Army (KPA). The military garrison state argument suggests that Songun politics brought about the decline of the party and political ascendance of the military, while the party¡¯s army model argues that the KPA is still the party¡¯s army and under the party¡¯s firm control. This article suggests that the debate mischaracterizes the KPA¡¯s political place in North Korea and that the military has not been a politically influential organ from the state-building to the current Kim Jong-un era. This article identifies two distinct patterns of military control mechanisms¡ªnamely partisan (1960s¨C1990s) and personalistic (1998¨C2008)¡ªand argues that the different control methods have little to do with the KPA¡¯s political strength or weakness. Rather, they merely reflect the dictator¡¯s ruling method of choice for regime survival. The analysis illustrates that the current Kim Jong-un regime is more stable than many outside observers may estimate, and a military coup is highly unlikely in the near future
%K North Korea
%K Songun politics
%K coup d¡¯¨¦tat
%K party¨Cmilitary relations
%K Kim Jong-il
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2347797018798262