Sung-Yoon Lee bibliography explained

Sung-Yoon Lee is a scholar, policy advisor, and author specialized on North Korea and East Asia. His written opus has focussed on exposing the wrongdoings of the North Korean regime and advancing policies to curb it. He has contributed to media outlets, published academic papers and a book, and written statements as part of his expert witness advice to the U.S. Congress. His writing style has been described as exuberant, vivid, and sharp, with a meticulous and insightful analysis.

Books

Lee has profiled Kim Yo Jong, the sister and closest aid to North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un. Reviewers of Lee's work noted that despite the at-times gentle demeanor, she is at least as ruthless as his brother, is ready to succeed him if necessary, and she would maintain the nature of the regime. Reviewers both critical and positive coincided in noting the unusual nature of the work, which given the closed nature of the regime had to contend with a dearth of normal biographical sources and lacked direct access to the subject. The author aimed to remedy these limitations by delving deeper into on the broader context of the regime and Kim family history, as well as by conducting a detailed analysis of the subject's public appearances and written public statements. Some critics were unsatisfied with this approach while others were positive.

Academic articles

Lee has notably warned the international community, especially the U.S. and South Korea not to cave-in to the brinksmanship maneuvers by North Korea, nor to fall for false overtures to reconciliation, which in fact only seeks to extract gains for the regime. In his published works Lee has noted that the North has been repeatedly successful at manipulating the South and its allies with these cycles of threats and then diplomacy, which he named the Pyongyang playbook.

Congressional testimony

Lee has published written statements as part of his testimony as an expert witness in U.S. Congress hearings. In those hearings he notably argued for the strengthening of sanctions against North Korea, warned about North Korea's history of brinksmanship, and pointed to the key role of China is facilitating or impeding international pressure on North Korea.

Short essays

Lee has actively advanced his geopolitical analysis and policy recommendations through engagement with mass media, especially by publishing articles in newspapers and other media outlets.

Lee has often collaborated with Joshua Stanton, a North Korean human rights advocate and a lawyer based in Washington D.C., together co-authoring multiple articles to advance legislation of tougher sanctions.

Given the despotic nature of the North Korean regime, its oppression of its own population and the nuclear threats to international security, Lee has proposed a strategy of stern treatment of the North Korean government, while engaging the North Korean people.

The first is primarily to be pursued with sanctions that create economic pressure aimed at the elite; reducing the available resources to the regime, and diminishing the loyalty of the ruling. Lee sees this as the only non-military way to force the regime into a real negotiation on denuclearization and human rights. Lee has repeatedly further asserted that strong sanctions must not be undermined by false peace overtures by the regime to trick the international community into concessionary diplomacy. The second is to be pursued as humanitarian aid for the population, increasing efforts to disseminate more information from the outside world into North Korea, facilitating defections, and pressing for a global campaign of human rights.

Other

Judicial expert witness work

Book chapter

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