The Sister

A detailed, insightful study … Lee is excellent on the regime’s reliance on suppressing, distorting and manipulating information … His vivid account of surreal, intractable negotiations with the Kim siblings underlines The Sister’s central insight: Kim Yo Jong is very much part of the family – The Guardian
Explosive … a ground-breaking and revealing new book – Daily Mail
Riveting, unique, policy-relevant narrative of the first order … Lee sees through the North Korean regime’s antics, maskirovka, and propaganda – much of it the work of Kim Yo Jong – as does no other. A work of penetrating analysis, caustic wit, and elegant prose – James Stavridis, PhD., Admiral in US Navy (Retired), and former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO
A riveting profile of the rise of the current leader’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, and the resilience of the Kim regime – Times Literary Supplement
Extraordinarily well researched … an invaluable resource in understanding one of the most intriguing and least known figures in today’s North Korea – Stephen E. Biegun, United States Special Representative for North Korea, 2018-2021 and Deputy Secretary of State, 2021-2022
Dr Lee deftly skewers the misperceptions of Kim Yo Jong to insightfully assess her longstanding and powerful role. Comprehensive, provocative, and eloquently written. Should be required reading for policymakers and pundits trying to decipher the North Korean Game of Thrones – Bruce Klingner, former Deputy Division Chief for Korea, CIA; former North Korea Analyst, DIA, Senior Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center, The Heritage Foundation
Mr Lee’s book is not just a profile of a central figure in what is arguably the world’s most brutal dictatorship, but also of her clan. By showing how the family operates, The Sister offers insights into the workings of the only hereditary monarchy to style itself as communist; a regime willing to let millions starve while it spends billions on weapons – The Economist
In The Sister, Sung-Yoon Lee offers a trenchant analysis of the Kim Jong Un regime and his sister’s role in propagating their cult of personality. He employs his deep knowledge of the subject and his fine literary skills to tell a tale that is both fascinating and disturbing – Dr Sue Mi Terry, Director of the Asia Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
As a former top North Korea official in charge of the supreme leader’s slush funds, I have intimate knowledge of the corrupt and very opaque workings of the Kim dynasty. The Sister is revelatory. It is a most rare and enlightening analysis of the Kim regime’s deceptions and perversions, and Kim Yo Jong’s role in this existential game … [an] astute, acerbic, and, at times, even amusing exposé of the pathological ways of the North Korean dynasty – Ri Jong Ho, former Chairman of the Korea Kum-Kang Economic Development Group (KKG) of the National Defense Commission, DPRK
This captivating, well-researched portrait of one of the world’s most secretive and powerful women offers a rare glimpse into the heart of North Korea’s leadership and the complexities of its political landscape – Bradley Hope, author of The Rebel and the Kingdom and co-founder of Project Brazen
Dr Lee was instrumental in our lawsuit against North Korea for the kidnapping, torture, and extrajudicial killing of our son, Otto. During the trial in a federal court in DC, the entire courtroom and the press were mesmerized by his deep knowledge of the concentration camp known as North Korea. Dr. Lee is able to explain North Korea’s behaviour in a way that compels action. Now, he has put his impressive skills to weave a gripping tale on the inner workings of the criminal organization known as North Korea and the sister’s sinister role in this scheme – Fred and Cindy Warmbier, plaintiffs in Warmbier v. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2018)

Sung-Yoon Lee is a scholar of Korean and East Asian studies and a specialist on North Korea. He is the Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor in Korean Studies and Assistant Professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and Faculty Associate at the Program on US-Japan Relations, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. Dr Lee has advised senior-most officials in the US government and is an outspoken proponent of several policies aimed at changing the North Korean regime towards a path of denuclearization and improvement of human rights, while keeping the peace and stability in northeast Asia. In 2013, the Guardian called Lee ‘among the most insightful and prescient chroniclers’. The Sister is his first book.

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