Business as Mission in North Korea: The Need for Contextual Understanding of Autocratic Regimes

Abstract

This thesis aims to assess the extent to which Business as Mission (BAM) can be viable in an autocratic setting like North Korea. By understanding the country’s frame of reference and cultural values, BAM seeks to acquire and adopt available insights in executing the mission of sharing the Gospel and alleviating the plight of North Koreans. BAM is predicated on the sociopolitical context providing sufficient clues to plan adequately and operate sustainably. A natural segue for this thesis is to also explore how BAM can be more effective. Especially in an autocratic setting like North Korea, a margin for miscalculated understanding is extremely limited. Simultaneously, due to the unique and idiosyncratic nature of each culture, the thesis seeks to examine any prejudice, bias, or misinterpretation that can attribute to BAM’s demise in North Korea. Material BAM constituents are assessed, probed, and incorporated into the thesis to determine the extent to which they can provide an improved suitable springboard for BAM’s higher sustainability in North Korea in particular, and more generally, in other autocratic environments.