[December 01, 2013] One of the many interesting phenomenon of studying senior leadership is that while we see patterns of greatness, we also see unique individual and cultural differences in those leaders. Over the past week, there has been news coming out of North Korea that they have arrested a retired U.S. citizen and Korea War veteran who was visiting the country.
From what is written in the news, a U.S. citizen was “detained” as a “war criminal” and is charged with being “guilty of a long list of indelible crimes against DPRK1 government and Korean people [sic].”
Later, I will write a profile on the current North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, to contrast his leader characteristics with other senior leaders. Of course, the information on this young leader is sparse but there is enough information to put together an interesting article.
North Korea’s government has a “military first” policy, known as Songun, that establishes their Army as primacy in domestic and international affairs. This means the culture of North Korea is very military centric. In the study of North Korean history, the military plays a dominant role in establishment of the state.
North Korea still blames the United States with starting a “genocidal” war against it in 1950 and accuses the U.S. with “war crimes.” The entire issue of the Korea War remains, to this day, a very dominant and emotionally powerful issue to the country’s leadership and society.
It comes as no surprise that the retired U.S. citizen, who was a Soldier in the Korean War, was detained. The fact that the North Korean Army’s leadership played a significant role in this will also come as no surprise.
How long this goes on is unknown. North Korea’s leadership is notorious for brinksmanship and bellicose acts.
It is unfortunate that another U.S. citizen has been detained in this communist nation. The question now is, “How does the U.S. handle the North Korean government?”
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[1] Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)