The DPRK is often perceived as a state in which the Stalinist model of socialism has been preserved virtually unchanged for decades. However, new materials show that in North Korea there once were forces that opposed the personality cult of Kim Il Sung, the militarization of the economy, and dictatorial methods of management. The DPRK did not remain aloof from the changes that took place in the socialist camp in the mid-1950s. The transformations that unfolded in the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin made a considerable impression on the North Korean intelligentsia and part of the party leadership. In this situation, an opposition group arose in the DPRK, which aimed to remove Kim Il Sung from power and carry out Soviet-style liberal reforms in the DPRK. The performance of this group ended in failure and caused a sharp tightening of the regime.

The book, written on the basis of archival materials, introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, examines the dramatic events of the mid-1950s. The outcome of these events largely determined the history of the DPRK in subsequent decades.