How Significant and Effective are North Korea's “Market Reforms”?

Abstract

Speculation continues as to the real significance and effectiveness of the “market reforms” introduced by the government of North Korea in July 2002. Some commentators regard these as rather minor, while others suggest that they represent the first stage of a significant move towards a much more open and decentralized system. In this paper, the details of the reforms are discussed, and it is argued that their significance can only be judged in terms of the underlying dynamics of the North Korean regime. Using constructs from regime theory and regime dynamics, the current system is defined, and the stability of its elements is evaluated. It is concluded that the reforms are necessary for regime stability, but do not constitute a fundamental challenge to the existing system.

Keywords:

• North Korean economy
• regime dynamics
• socialist transformation
• North Korean political system
• nuclear proliferation