Bastion of Juche: How North Korea’s ruling party and dynasty has managed to stay in power for decades

The Workers’ Party of Korea turned 75 this week, managing to outlive most of the 20th-century socialist regimes

North Korea is by far the longest-lived socialist state, surpassing the Soviet Union in longevity. It survived the Korean War of 1950-1953, the ‘Arduous March’ of the late 1990s when up to 600,000 people died of starvation and disease, and eight years of near-embargo caused by UN Security Council sanctions.

The secret of the regime’s survivability is debated...