Great idea! I would love to read this.
I hope someone does this for Thae Yong-ho's "Cryptography from the Third-floor Secretariat" as well. The absence of a translation is even more perplexing since the author speaks near-perfect English.
Thanks! Demick's has been on my list for a while, and I was unaware of Kang's book. I'd like to read that too.
I don't expect or want something which entirely avoids the politics (as you said, likely impossible) or glosses over the atrocities and standard of living problems. But I'm not looking for a work bathed on self-righteous tears of outrage either. Sure, I hate the North Korean government. I feel terrible for the people there. But I don't need further macabre descriptions of what's going on there, I already read Escape from Camp 14. I'm looking for something which takes an unsentimental approach to their daily lives.
By the way, why the %$%# has no one translated Thae Yong-ho's Cryptography of the Third Floor Secretariat yet?
Anyway, thanks again for the recommendations!