ABSTRACT Despite a plethora of research on North Korea, understanding and managing the challenges posed by the country have long been complicated with no simple solution to put an end to this decades-long security and economic predicament on the Korean Peninsula. With the potential for international conflict, attention must be given to the converging messages emerging from the scholarly works reviewed in this article: Glyn Ford, Talking to North Korea: Ending the Nuclear Standoff, Van Jackson, On the Brink: Trump, Kim, and the Threat of Nuclear War and William Overholt’s collection North Korea: Peace? Nuclear War? These works speak to the need to: take seriously the risk of nuclear war; consider the connectedness of the North’s decades-long security and economic reform dilemmas; and to acknowledge that the mistrust that is deeply rooted on all sides must be mitigated to bring peace. These books are published at a critical juncture of increased tensions following a highly publicised but remarkably short-lived effort at a breakthrough on the Korean nuclear issue, Pyongyang’s rapidly evolving security posture and its perennial domestic challenges. Each of these volumes provides valuable insights on these challenges for North Korea and internationally.

中文翻译：

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朝鲜问题：核辩论、经济改革及其他方面的观点

摘要 尽管对朝鲜进行了大量研究，但了解和管理该国带来的挑战长期以来一直很复杂，没有简单的解决方案来结束朝鲜半岛长达数十年的安全和经济困境。由于可能发生国际冲突，因此必须关注本文所评论的学术著作中出现的趋同信息：格林福特，与朝鲜对话：结束核僵局，范杰克逊，濒临崩溃：特朗普、金和核战争的威胁和威廉奥弗霍尔特的收藏朝鲜：和平？核战争？这些作品说明了需要： 认真对待核战争的风险；考虑北方数十年的安全和经济改革困境之间的联系；并承认必须消除各方根深蒂固的不信任以实现和平。这些书是在紧张局势加剧的关键时刻出版的，此前，在朝鲜核问题、平壤迅速发展的安全态势及其长期的国内挑战方面取得了突破性进展，但时间却非常短。每一卷都为朝鲜和国际上的这些挑战提供了宝贵的见解。