The Security and Human Rights Nexus in North Korea: Is Self-Organizing Dynamics Feasible?

Abstract

The primary objective of this article is to examine the possibility of path emergence by institutionalizing the security and human rights nexus in North Korea. The underlying assumption of this study is that institutionalization of the security and human rights nexus in a repressive state sets in motion self-organizing dynamics which often shift the institutional path of the country from path dependence to path emergence, culminating in drastic socio-political transformation. Path emergence unfolds through the sequential phases of an influx of information, activation of frame resonance, strategic coordination in a network, a boomerang effect and finally a threshold effect. This theoretical framework is applied to the case of North Korea. This article argues that self-organizing dynamics may occur in North Korea if the security and human rights nexus in Korea were to be institutionalized within a single institutional framework.