Category Archives: North Korea

Skyscrapers: A bad idea as energy declines

Preface. One reason Paris is such a lovely city is that it was built to human scale, with buildings of five stories or less, because that was about as high as people were willing to climb, so not surprisingly, rents … Continue reading

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North Korea: what happened when the oil was cut off?

Preface. All nations will eventually run low and then out of petroleum, so it is worthwhile to see what happened to those countries where oil was scarce first to get glimpses of our own fate and perhaps try to mitigate … Continue reading

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House hearing: no solutions for North Korea in sight

[ This is a summary of the March 2017 house hearing titled “Pressuring North Korea–evaluating options”. First are some of the reasons why nothing is going to change –in my own wording–followed by congressional testimony.  Then Chairman Yoho gives a … Continue reading

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Book review of “In order to live: A North Korean girl’s journey to freedom” by Yeonmi Park

Related Posts North Korea collapse posts How different nations have coped with oil shortages Dmitry Orlov: How Russians survived the collapse of the Soviet Union A book review of “Russia’s Food Policies and Globalization” Lessons Learned from How Cuba Survived … Continue reading

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How different nations have coped with oil shortages

Preface. In this article, Friedrichs shows how differently Cuba, North Korea, and Japan coped after a sudden loss of most of their oil.  I first became aware of how essential oil was for nations when I read Daniel Yergin’s 1991 … Continue reading

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Who lives, who dies in a never-ending energy crisis. Book review of Nothing to Envy. Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Preface. Much of this post comes from Barbara Demick’s 2010 “Nothing to Envy. Ordinary lives in North Korea”.  But first I summarize why and how energy shortages led to the hardships chronicled in this book. Related Posts: North Korea collapse … Continue reading

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Inside North Korea’s environmental collapse

The reddish hue of this soil in North Korea comes from lack of organic matter, vital for farming. Related Posts: North Korea collapse posts How different nations have coped with oil shortages Dmitry Orlov: How Russians survived the collapse of … Continue reading

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