Pyongyang on the Brink

Fyodor Tertitskiy researches North Korean political, social and military history from South Korea, where he has been living for over fifteen years. He has authored several books in English and Korean, including Accidental Tyrant: The Life of Kim Il-sung ((also published by Hurst), and The North Korean Army.

'The Russian-born historian revisits North Korea’s history through counterfactual exploration, offering “what-if” scenarios at 16 critical turning points, starting with the creation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1948 in the Soviet-occupied northern half of the Korean Peninsula.'

• Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: THE BIRTH OF A DIFFERENT KOREA 1940s 1. By a Single Flash America Could Have Developed Nuclear Weapons Earlier 2. 38th Parallel, Erased The US and the USSR Could Have Created a Unified Government in Korea 3. Anyone but Kim Stalin Could Have Selected Someone Other than Kim Il-sung to Lead the Nation 4. Murder in Pyongyang Kim Il-sung Could Have Been KIlled in 1946 PART II: COLLAPSE FROM WITHIN OR WITHOUT 1950s–60s 5. MacArthur’s Triumph North Korea Could Have Lost the Korean War 6. The Opposition Wins In 1956, Kim Il-sung Could Have Been Voted Out of Office 7. Red Giants Crush a Small Sun Sino-Soviet Political Intervention Could Have Removed Kim Il-sung From Power in 1956 8. Pyongyang’s Gamble, Seoul’s Victory? Kim Il-sung Could Have Killed President Park Chung-hee and Launched the Second Korean War PART III: DEATH, COUP OR WAR 1990s 9. Shooting the Sun Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il Could Have Been Killed in a 1992 Coup 10. Bill Clinton’s Fire and Fury The United States Could Have Attacked North Korea in 1993 11. Crash Landing In 1994, Kim Jong-il Could Have Boarded the Medical Helicopter Flying to Save Kim Il-sung 12. The Soldiers’ Revolution The Sixth[…]