ABSTRACT During the mid- and late 1990s in North Korea, a period marked by the “Arduous March”, discourse shifted from “conquering” the natural environment to “rationally using and protecting” it. It is argued in this article that this change was related to the dynamic character of the North Korean regime, which evolves according to changing circumstances. Thus, this study aims to examine this change in discourse about the natural environment, focussing on features of North Korean discourses that directly demonstrate the government’s identification of pending issues and its methods of address-ing them. It finds that the primary issues confronting the government during the Arduous March – overcoming food and economic crises and establishing the regime’s superiority – and the methods to cope with these dilemmas closely factored into the change. To enhance the reliability of this study, we examined key outlets for discourses in North Korea, including collections of the Supreme Leader’s speeches; newspapers and magazines published by the Korean Workers’ Party; and articles in academic journals authored mainly by scholars vetted by the state.

中文翻译：

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关于朝鲜自然环境的论述：1990 年代的政权动态变化

摘要 1990 年代中后期，朝鲜以“艰苦跋涉”为标志，话语从“征服”自然环境转向“合理利用和保护”自然环境。本文认为，这种变化与朝鲜政权的动态特征有关，它随着环境的变化而演变。因此，本研究旨在检验有关自然环境的话语的这种变化，重点是朝鲜话语的特征，这些特征直接证明了政府对悬而未决问题的识别及其解决方法。它发现，在艰苦的三月期间，政府面临的主要问题——克服粮食和经济危机以及建立政权的优势——以及应对这些困境的方法与变革密切相关。为了提高这项研究的可靠性，我们检查了朝鲜的主要话语渠道，包括最高领袖演讲集；朝鲜劳动党出版的报刊杂志；以及主要由国家审查的学者撰写的学术期刊文章。