Jeju Peace Institute

We are currently witnessing an emerging trend with regard to approach to North Korean politics, which places emphasis on the influence of the so-called symbolic, cognitive elements on actors’ choice, including the redefinition of North Korea as a “theatre state.” The author would like to discuss the operating mechanism of North Korean policies based on human being’s diverse cognitive bias as identified in recent psychological studies. This is part of the effort to explain North Korean politics on a personal level. Combined with political and economic factors, psychological factors contribute to the stabilization of North Korean terror politics and control. This paper focuses on the analysis of psychological factors rather than the description of political and economic situations. A micro-understanding of North Korean politics paves the way for the Republic of Korea to come up with more specific responses to North Korean threats. At the end of this paper, the author would like to present our “asymmetric strategies” designed to attract North Korea to the table of peace and dialogue.