1. Introduction: Why the Need to Re-Evaluate North Korea? -- 2. Friends and Foes: An Orthodox Story -- 3. Nothing but Words? Rhetoric and Beyond -- 4. Securing Freedom. 5. Navigating Interdependence -- 6. The DPRK and the Politics of Mainstreaming -- 7. Foreign Policy in Times of Global Changes -- 8. Conclusion: Fostering Cooperation in a Multipolar World.

In this second edition of North Korea’s New Diplomacy, author Virginie Grzelczyk shows how North Korea has managed to weather an uncertain political future and catastrophic economic system since the end of the Cold War. Emerging as a state that has successfully developed and tested missiles and nuclear weapons, North Korea has consolidated the Kim family dynasty through the appointment of Kim Jong Un as Pyongyang’s latest strongman. The author provides an up-to-date, empirically rich account of new diplomatic recognitions, military partnerships, knowledge trade, coping mechanisms to offset international sanctions, import and export partners, foreign investment practices and engagement within the Global South. With new and updated text throughout, the book gives a detailed picture of a state that constantly becoming a more complex and relevant actor in the 21st century diplomatic world. Virginie Grzelczyk is Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, and a Reader in International Relations, at Aston University, UK.