This is the first part of a series examining research on North Korean defectors. You can read part two here.

Since the mid-2000s, there has been a prodigious increase in the volume of publications concerning North Korea. From standard concerns such as the nuclear program and elite Workers’ Party politics through to more esoteric diversions like the sociology of small border communities, the rising diversity of material on offer is noticeable.

This is even the case in English, a market that, although far larger, tends to pale in comparison to the wealth of publications