This monograph provides the first systematic and comprehensive study of the Ministry of Social Security, the state institution most directly responsible for resident control in North Korea. Unlike previous works that examine North Korea’s regime resilience in general terms, this volume focuses specifically on the mechanisms, institutions, and human consequences of resident control. It highlights how the Kim family regime has sustained hereditary dictatorship through the institutionalization of social control, and it uniquely situates this within both theoretical debates on authoritarianism and empirical evidence of human rights violations.

Dr. Nam Sung-wook served as a Professor in the Department of Unification and Diplomacy at Korea University from 2002 to 2025 and as Dean of the Graduate School of Public Administration from 2016 to 2021. 

Dr. Bae Jin currently serves with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (2018–present). She previously worked as Senior Research Fellow at the South–North Economic Research Institute under the Ministry of Unification (2016–2018), and as Researcher at the Center for North Korean Studies, Asiatic Research Institute, Korea University (2016–2019).