Identity, Supreme Dignity, and North Korea's External Behavior: A Cultural/Ideational Perspective

One of the most puzzling aspects of North Korea's foreign policy behavior is its hyper-sensitive reactions to outside actors' blasphemy against its supreme leader. At times, the DPRK is willing to sacrifice its economic gains and even security interests if the supreme leader's esteem and honor are at stake. Why? We argue that it is because any blasphemy against the leader is tantamount to disrespect against the being of the nation and the North Korean people as a whole. This (an extreme form of 'face saving') can be attributed to the unique identity formation of leader and people in North Korean history and culture where identity is inseparably tied to self-esteem (how we regard ourselves) and esteem (how we are regarded by others). More specifically, our paper will cover four major issues: first, the construction of a cultural theory of North Korea's foreign policy behavior; second, the elucidation of identity, honor, and supreme esteem in the North Korean context through the analysis of its primary documents; third, an empirical examination of deteriorating inter-Korea relations during the Lee Myungbak government, rocket launching, and underground nuclear testing as a way of exploring its theoretical validity, and finally, the paper generates several theoretical, empirical, and policy implications for a better understanding of North Korea's foreign policy behavior. Adapted from the source document.