Politics of the North Korean Diaspora

"Politics of the North Korean Diaspora examines how authoritarian security concerns shape global diaspora politics. Empirically, it traces the recent emergence of a North Korean diaspora - a globally-dispersed population of North Korean âemigrâes - and argues that the non-democratic nature of the DPRK homeland regime fundamentally shapes diasporic politics. Pyongyang perceives the diaspora as a threat to regime security, and attempts to dissuade emigration, de-legitimate diasporic voices, and deter or disrupt diasporic political activity, including throughn o and transnational repression. This, in turn, shapes the North Korean diaspora's perceptions of citizenship and patterns of diasporic political engagement: North Korean âemigrâes have internalized many host country norms, particularly the civil and participatory dimensions of democratic citizenship, and âemigrâes have played important roles in both host-country and global politics. This Element provides new empirical evidence on the North Korean diaspora; demonstrates that regime type is an important, understudied factor shaping transnational and diasporic politics; and contributes to our understanding of comparative authoritarianism's global impact"--