Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T05:23:42.089Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Advance of Marketization in North Korea: Between political rigidity and economic flexibility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2019

TAT YAN KONG
TAT YAN KONG*
Affiliation:
Department of Politics & International Studies, SOAS, University of London Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

North Korea is a unique regime that has not followed the ‘mono-transition’ path (economic reform under modified one-party rule) of other surviving communist regimes (China, Vietnam, Cuba) in the post-Cold War era. Debates over North Korea's unique features (reluctance in economic reform, absence of political modification, international troublemaking) have generated two contending interpretations. The mainstream interpretation attributes North Korea's uniqueness to its regime's highly rigid political system (‘monolithic leadership system’). For the alternative interpretation, structural pressures and political calculus have driven the monolithic regime towards economic reform (‘marketization from above’), making it more convergent with the ‘mono-transition’ regimes, at least in the economic aspect. In support of the latter interpretation, this article will delve further into three contentious issues that represent the most common doubts about the advance of marketization in North Korea. First, how can the regime reconcile marketization with the interests of its ‘core constituencies’? Second, since ‘crony socialism’ exists, how does it influence distribution and productive activity? Third, how does marketization advance in view of the persistence of monolithic rule? In so doing, it will show how the sources of economic reform (structural factors and political calculus) have enabled the marketization constraints to be overcome.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 54 , Issue 3 , May 2020 , pp. 830 - 867
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Research and writing of this article were kindly supported by the Academy of Korean Studies Grant AKS-2015-R21. I benefited greatly from my discussions with many specialists, especially Seong-Chang Cheong, Nam-Hoon Cho, Ruediger Frank, Dong-Ho Jo, Hyung-Min Joo, Byeong-Yeon Kim, Dong-Yub Kim, Suk Lee, Chung-In Moon, Hyeong-Jung Park, and Hazel Smith. Hyo-Won Yoon and Eunmee Kim have always been welcoming and supportive during my frequent research trips to Korea. I would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and the editorial team of Modern Asian Studies for their support. This article is dedicated to the memory of my sister, Maisie (江詠頤) (1965–2018).

References

1 Kim defines it as ‘implementation of gradual economic reform leaving the political system intact’. See Kim, I.-G., ‘North Korea in transition: phased progress in reform and prospects’, East Asian Review, 19(1) (2007), pp. 99–127Google Scholar, at p. 107, http://www.koreafocus.or.kr/DEV/essays/view.asp?volume_id=48&content_id=101211&category=G [accessed 4 January 2008].

2 So, A. Y. and Chu, Y.-W., The Global Rise of China, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2016, pp. 63–71Google Scholar; Centeno, R. I., ‘The Cuban regime after a decade of Rául Castro in power’, Mexican Law Review, 9(2) (2017), pp. 99–126Google Scholar.

3 Wu, J., ‘China's transition to a market economy: how far across the river?’ in Transition from Socialist to Market Economies: Comparison of European and Asian Experiences, Ichimura, S., Sato, T., and James, W. (eds), Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2009, pp. 37–66, at p. 41Google Scholar.

4 Centeno, ‘The Cuban regime’, p. 115.

5 Brus, W., ‘Marketization and democratization: the Sino-Soviet divergence’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 17(4) (1993), pp. 433–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 Wintrobe, R., The Political Economy of Dictatorship, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1998CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 On Cuba, see Corrales, J., ‘The gatekeeper state: limited economic reforms and regime survival in Cuba, 1989–2002’, Latin American Research Review, 39(2) (2004), pp. 35–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar. On China, see Eaton, S., The Advance of the State in Contemporary China: State–Market Relations in the Reform Era, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2015Google Scholar.

8 Saxonberg, S., Transitions and Non-Transitions from Communism: Regime Survival in China, Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2013, pp. 58–66, 88–103CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 Here understood to mean nuclear weapons and sophisticated means for their delivery.

10 The Stalinist type of regime (together with German fascism) belongs to the totalitarian regime type characterized by the existence of a monistic centre of power, exclusive ideology defined by the rulers, and mass mobilization for political and social tasks. See Linz, J. J., Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes, Lynne Rienner, Boulder, 2000, p. 70Google Scholar.

11 Brus characterized the system as ‘the amalgamation of strictly political with economic power’. See Brus, W., ‘Political pluralism and markets in communist systems’ in Pluralism in the Soviet Union: Essays in Honour of H. Gordon Skilling, Solomon, S. G. (ed.), Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1983, pp. 108–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

12 Song, W. and Wright, J., ‘The North Korean autocracy in comparative perspective’, Journal of East Asian Studies, 18(2) (2018), pp. 157–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at pp. 164–5.

13 Cheong, S.-C., ‘Stalinism and KimIlsungism: a comparative analysis of ideology and power’, Asian Perspective, 24(1) (2000), pp. 133–61Google Scholar, at pp. 146–51.

14 K.-D. Lee, The Successor Theory of North Korea, Korea Institute of National Unification Studies Series 04-1, Seoul, 2004.

15 Chuch'e (Juche) represents Kim Il-Sŏng's brand of nationalism that was defined by national sovereignty; self-reliant economy; and self-reliance in defence.

16 Chen, C. and Lee, J.-Y., ‘Making sense of North Korea: “national Stalinism” in comparative-historical perspective’, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 40(4) (2007), pp. 459–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

17 Saxonberg, Transitions, p. 119

18 Lee, The Successor Theory of North Korea, pp. 30–4.

19 Cumings, B., ‘The corporate state in North Korea’ in State and Society in Contemporary Korea, Koo, H. (ed.), Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1993, pp. 197–230Google Scholar.

20 Chung, B.-H. and Kwon, H., North Korea: Beyond Charismatic Politics, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, 2012Google Scholar.

21 Cha, V. D., ‘The North Korea question’, Asian Survey, 56(2) (2016), pp. 243–69Google Scholar, at p. 249.

22 Haggard, S. and Noland, M., Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea, Petersen Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC, 2011, p. 86Google Scholar.

23 Ibid., at p. 121.

24 Haggard, S. and Noland, M., Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid and Reform, Columbia University Press, New York, 2007, p. 215Google Scholar; Yang, U.-C., ‘Reform without transition: the economic situation in North Korea since the July 1, 2002, measures’, North Korean Review, 6(1) (2010), pp. 71–87CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

25 Noland, M., ‘The elusive nature of North Korean reform’, Asia Pacific Issues: Analysis from the East-West Center, No. 108, 2013Google Scholar, http://www.eastwestcenter.org/sites/default/files/private/api108.pdf [accessed 4 February 2014].

26 Haggard, S., Herman, L., and Ryu, J., ‘Political change in North Korea: mapping the succession’, Asian Survey, 54(4) (2014), pp. 773–800CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

27 Hellman, J., ‘Winner takes all: the politics of partial reform in post-communist transitions’, World Politics, 50(2) (1998), pp. 203–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 Haggard and Noland, Famine in North Korea, p. 217.

29 Park, H.-J., ‘How has North Korea avoided collapse and reform/openness?’, Korea Focus, 2013Google Scholar, http://www.koreafocus.or.kr/DEV/essays/view.asp?volume_id=139&content_id=104762&category=G [accessed 15 January 2014].

30 H.-J. Park, ‘Expanding North Korea-China economic cooperation and the future of the North Korean regime: a “rentier state” analysis’, KINU Online Series, CO11-09, 2011, http://repo.kinu.or.kr/bitstream/2015.oak/1870/1/0001447701.pdf [accessed 10 October 2011].

31 For example, see Pollack, J. D., No Exit: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons and International Security, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, 2010Google Scholar.

32 Cha, ‘The North Korea question’, pp. 254–6.

33 The Bank of Korea's centrally planned economy model estimates the service sector occupies only 30 per cent of the entire economy, of which two-thirds belongs to the state sector, leaving one-third (or 10 per cent of the economy) for private service activities. See Yang, M.-S., ‘North Korea's domestic economic policy and economic management improvement measures’ in 2015 DPRK Country Report, Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy & Management and Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES) (eds), KDI School and IFES, Seoul, 2015, pp. 92–126Google Scholar, at pp. 104–5.

34 Yang, M.-S., ‘The evaluation of 2015 and prospects for 2016: North Korean economy’, IFES Issues and Analysis, 2015Google Scholar, http://ifes.kyungnam.ac.kr/eng/FRM/FRM_0401L.aspx [accessed 5 January 2016].

35 National Statistics Office (NSO), Major Statistics Indicators of North Korea, NSO, Seoul, several issues.

36 Feron, H., ‘Doom and gloom or economic boom? The myth of the “North Korean collapse”’, The Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, 12:18(3) (2014)Google Scholar, http://apjjf.org/2014/12/18/Henri-Feron/4113/article.html [accessed 3 March 2015].

37 R. Frank, ‘The 2016 North Korean budget report: 12 observations’, 38 North, 2016, http://38north.org/2016/04/rfrank040816/ [accessed 5 September 2016].

38 R. Frank, ‘The North Korean parliamentary session and budget report for 2017’, 38 North, 2017, http://www.38north.org/2017/04/rfrank042817/ [accessed 8 May 2017].

39 Against a minimal requirement of 5.5 million tons, the food balance (million tons) by marketing year (i.e. from November to October) was as follows: 5.04 (2010–11); 5.27 (2011–12); 5.73 (2012–13); 5.93 (2013–14); 5.94 (2014–15). See FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) of the UN and World Food Programme (WFP), FAO-WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to the DPRK: Special Report (23 November 2013), http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/aq118e/aq118e.pdf [accessed 15 January 2014]; FAO, ‘The DPRK: outlook for food supply and demand 2014/15 (November/October)’, Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) Update on Food and Agriculture (3 February 2015), http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4363e.pdf [accessed 10 April 2016]; FAO, ‘The DPRK: outlook for food supply and demand 2015/16 (November/October)’, GIEWS Update on Food and Agriculture (27 April 2016), http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5572e.pdf [accessed 9 July 2016].

40 NSO, Major Statistics Indicators of North Korea.

41 It denotes the part of the economy controlled by the Cabinet and is responsible for supplying the ordinary citizens.

42 Gray, K. and Lee, J.-W., ‘Following in China's footsteps? The political economy of North Korean reform’, The Pacific Review, 30(1) (2017), pp. 51–73CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at pp. 59–65.

43 Lim, S.-H., The Rise of Markets within a Planned Economy, Samsung Economic Research Institute, Seoul, 2009Google Scholar; Joo, H.-M., ‘Visualising the invisible hands: the shadow economy in North Korea’, Economy & Society, 39(1) (2010), pp. 110–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Smith, H., North Korea: Markets and Military Rule, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2015CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

44 Kim, S.-J., ‘North Korea's economy under Kim Jong-Un: performance and outlook’, Vantage Point: Developments in North Korea, 38(8) (2015), pp. 10–14Google Scholar, at pp. 12–13.

45 Reilly, J., ‘China's market influence in North Korea’, Asian Survey, 54(5) (2014), pp. 894–917CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

46 S. Lee, ‘Overview: growth, dollarization and the emergence of a dual economy’ in 2016: The DRPK Economic Outlook, S. Lee (ed.), Korea Development Institute, Sejong City, 2017, pp. 14–37, at pp. 22–30.

47 North Korean export figures to China (US$ millions) were: 793 (2009); 1,188 (2010); 2,464 (2011); 2,458 (2012); 2,914 (2013): 2,841 (2014); 2,484 (2015). Import figures (US$ millions) were: 1,888 (2009); 2,278 (2010); 3,165 (2011); 3,528 (2012); 3,633 (2013): 4,023 (2014); 3,226 (2015). See NSO, Major Statistics Indicators of North Korea.

48 Frank, R. and Park, P. H., ‘From monolithic totalitarianism to collective authoritarian leadership? Performance-based legitimacy and power transfer in North Korea’, North Korean Review, 8(2) (2012), pp. 32–49CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at p. 43.

49 http://www.northkoreatech.org/2012/04/18/english-transcript-of-kim-jong-uns-speech/ [accessed 15 May 2015].

50 A. Lankov, ‘Kim Jong Deng: why North Korea is choosing market reforms’, Carnegie Moscow Centre, 2015, http://carnegie.ru/commentary/59170 [accessed 12 January 2016].

51 Cheong, S.-C., ‘An examination of the possibility of pushing ahead with a policy for reforms and an opening-up by the Kim Jong-Un regime’, Vantage Point: Developments in North Korea, 36(2) (2013), pp. 48–57Google Scholar, at p. 50.

52 This denotes those in active military service (men aged 17–27) (inmingun changbyŏng) who also perform vital economic tasks (such as construction, disaster relief) designated by the state.

53 Using data from North Korea's 2008 (foreign-assisted) census, Suk Lee estimated a per-capita income of US$ 948–1,361, making North Korea one of the world's poorest countries. P'yŏngyang, however, enjoyed a per-capita income of US$ 2,658–2,715. See S. Lee, ‘How high is North Korea's real Employment and income?’, KDI Focus, No. 78, 2016, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2888769 [accessed 4 May 2017].

54 Cho, M., ‘The economic policies in North Korea under the leadership of Kim Jong-Un’, Vantage Point: Developments in North Korea, 36(5) (2013), pp. 48–57Google Scholar, at p. 55.

55 For example, as of December 2008, core constituents could purchase rice at 45 won per kilo against a market price of 2,000 won. See Lee, Y.-H., ‘Changes in North Korean economic structure and prospects of reform and opening in the Kim Jong-Un era’, Vantage Point: Developments in North Korea, 37(7) (2014), pp. 47–56Google Scholar, at p. 51.

56 Kim, S.-J., ‘North Korea's economy under Kim Jong-Un: performance and outlook’, Focus on Korean Peninsula 32(2) (2015), pp. 1–9Google Scholar, at p. 6.

57 For example, Noland, ‘The elusive nature’, p. 4.

58 Ministry of Unification, Understanding North Korea 2014, Institute for Unification Education, Seoul, 2014, p. 267Google Scholar.

59 R. Wintrobe, ‘The logic of the North Korean dictatorship’, NEPS Working Paper Series 5/2-13, 2013, http://www.europeanpeacescientists.org/5_2013.pdf [accessed 12 August 2014].

60 For example, see Cho, ‘The economic policies in North Korea’, pp. 54–5.

61 For example, Noland, M., ‘Why is North Korea growing?’, North Korea: Witness to Transformation, 2015Google Scholar, https://piie.com/blogs/north-korea-witness-transformation/why-north-korea-growing [accessed 15 November 2015].

62 Lee, K.-S., ‘Current trends and characteristics of the North Korean economy and its future outlook at the 70th anniversary of the founding of the WPK’ in 2016 DPRK Country Report, Korea Development Institute School of Public Management (ed.), KDI School, Seoul, 2015, pp. 117–44Google Scholar, at pp. 121–30.

63 Haggard and Noland, Famine in North Korea, pp. 190–1, 216–17.

64 For example, a 2007 survey of 250 Chinese firms operating in North Korea found that the North Korean state (via state-owned enterprises and state-licenced agents) monopolized the most profitable activities associated with Chinese trade and investment. See S. Haggard and M. Noland, ‘Networks, trust and trade: the micro-economics of China-North Korea relations’, Peterson Institute for International Economics Working Paper WP12-8, 2012, https://piie.com/publications/working-papers/networks-trust-and-trade-microeconomics-china-north-korea-integration [accessed 15 March 2013].

65 M.-S. Yang, North Korea's Planned Economy and Marketization, Institute for Unification Education, Seoul, 2015, pp. 84–5.

66 Park, ‘How has North Korea avoided collapse?’.

67 Chang cites a survey of 500 defectors that revealed the highest- to lowest-income quintile distribution to be 45 times based on their private economic activities. The corresponding ratio for South Korea (2014) was 5.4 times. See Chang, Y.-S., ‘The evaluation of 2015 and prospects for 2016: North Korea's domestic politics’, IFES Issues and Analysis No. 35 (2015–12), 2015Google Scholar, http://ifes.kyungnam.ac.kr/eng/FRM/FRM_0401V.aspx?code=FRM151215_0001 [accessed 18 January 2016].

68 Park, Y.-J., ‘Informal political system in North Korea: systematic corruption of “power-wealth symbiosis”’, International Journal of Korean Unification Studies, 24(1) (2016), pp. 123–56Google Scholar, at pp. 147–8.

69 H.-J. Park, ‘The ups and downs of the military's influence in the period of Kim Jong-Un's power consolidation (2009–2013)’, KINU Online Series, CO13-23, 2013, https://www.facebook.com/KINU1991eng/ [accessed 22 December 2013].

70 Gause, K. E., ‘North Korean political dynamics of the Kim Jong-un era’, International Journal of Korean Unification Studies, 25(1) (2016), pp. 33–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at p. 51.

71 Y.-J. Park, ‘One year after the execution of Jang Sung-Taek: the shifts of power and privilege in North Korea’, KINU Online Series, CO14-17, 2014, pp. 9–10, https://www.facebook.com/KINU1991eng/ [accessed 12 October 2014].

72 Lankov, A. and Kwak, I.-O., ‘The decline of the North Korean surveillance state’, North Korean Review, 7(2) (2011), pp. 6–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

73 Joo, H.-M., ‘Hidden transcripts in marketplaces: politicized discourses in the North Korean shadow economy’, The Pacific Review, 27(1) (2014), pp. 49–71CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

74 Frank, R., ‘The 7th party congress in North Korea: an analysis of Kim Jong-Un's report’, The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, 14(4) (2016), p. 5Google Scholar, http://apjjf.org/2016/14/Frank.html [accessed 22 May 2016].

75 Noland, ‘Why is North Korea growing?’.

76 Kim, B.-R., ‘Marketization of North Korea and changes in the social class structure’, IFES Focus on Korean Peninsula, 30(4) (2015)Google Scholar, http://ifes.kyungnam.ac.kr/eng/common/popup/PUB_Contents.aspx?code=PRI150313_0001 [accessed 8 December 2015].

77 Smith, H., ‘North Korea: intra-elite conflict and the relevance for global security’, PacNet 41, 2017Google Scholar, https://www.csis.org/analysis/pacnet-41-north-korea-intra-elite-conflict-and-relevance-global-security [accessed 6 June 2017].

78 Choi, Y.-S., ‘North Korea's hegemonic rule and its collapse’, The Pacific Review, 30(5) (2017), pp. 783–800CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

79 Yang, North Korea's Planned Economy, pp. 26–7, 98–9.

80 The informal sector constituted ‘almost 60 per cent of staple food grains and 70 per cent of necessities in the mid-1990s’. See Lim, The Rise of Markets, p. 11.

81 Frank and Park, ‘From monolithic totalitarianism’, p. 43.

82 Yang, M.-S., ‘North Korea's marketization in the Kim Jong-Un era’, IFES Focus on Korean Peninsula, 32(2) (2015), pp. 49–57Google Scholar, at p. 53, http://ifes.kyungnam.ac.kr/eng/PUB/PUB_0501V.aspx?code=PRI150901_0001 [accessed 22 November 2015].

83 Y.-J. Park, ‘Assessment and prospect of the Seventh Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea: leadership system and elite group’, KINU Online Series, CO16-13, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/KINU1991eng/ [accessed 22 May 2016].

84 Cheong, ‘An examination’, p. 52.

85 The balance (per cent) between economy and military was as follows: 24.5/32.5 (2012); 34.0/29.7 (2013); 36.0/32.5 (2014); and 44.9/30.2 (2015). See Jeon, Y.-S., ‘The WPK's 70th anniversary and strengthening of the party's political control’ in 2016 DPRK Country Report, Korea Development Institute School of Public Management (ed.), KDI School, Seoul, 2015, pp. 18–54Google Scholar, at p. 40.

86 D.-Y. Kim, ‘70th anniversary of the founding of the WPK and North Korea's military dilemma’ in KDI School, 2016 DPRK Country Report, pp. 56–85.

87 Ibid., at p. 61

88 Cheong, ‘An examination’, p. 53.

89 Frank, ‘The 2016 North Korean budget report’.

90 Cheong, ‘An examination’, p. 53.

91 Park, ‘The ups and downs’, p. 3.

92 The ill-fated currency redenomination of 2009–10 was ostensibly aimed at curbing the military's foreign-currency activities but the military sabotaged the initiative by failing to release rice reserves to support the rationing system and stabilize prices. See H.-J. Park, ‘Kim Jong Il, the military and the party, and Kim Jong Un’, KINU Online Series, CO10-12, 2010, https://www.facebook.com/KINU1991eng/ [accessed 4 January 2011].

93 I am grateful to Dr Seong-Chang Cheong for this observation (Discussion, 14 April 2016).

94 Preceding this, Kim Chŏng-Il promoted 185 military officers to the rank of general or gave them an extra star during 2010–11 to ensure the senior military's loyalty to his successor. See Lee, K.-D., Lim, S.-H., Cho, J.-H., and Song, J.-H., Study on the Power Elite of the Kim Jong Un Regime, Korea Institute of National Unification, Study Series 13-01, Seoul, 2013, pp. 57–8Google Scholar.

95 Mansourov, A., ‘Kim Jong Un's first 100 days: consolidating power and clearing political space for national revival’, International Journal of Korean Unification Studies, 22(1) (2013), pp. 81–108Google Scholar, at p. 90.

96 Cheong, S.-C., ‘Purge of Hyon Yong-Chol and outlook on party-army relations in North Korea’, Vantage Point: Developments in North Korea, 38(7) (2015), pp. 10–15Google Scholar, at pp. 12–15.

97 Park, H.-J. and Choi, S., Fiscal Segmentation and Economic Changes in North Korea, Korea Institute for National Unification, Study Series 14-05, Seoul, 2014, p. 14Google Scholar.

98 Ibid., at pp. 36–7.

99 Ibid., at p. 43.

100 Wak or Wakku (와꾸) is a form of North Korean slang (meaning ‘trade licence’) not used in the South.

101 Yang, North Korea's Planned Economy, pp. 29–30.

102 Suh, J.-J., Economic Hardship and Regime Sustainability in North Korea, Korea Institute for National Unification, Studies Series 08-06, Seoul, 2008, pp. 21–2Google Scholar.

103 Kim, S.-J. and Yang, M.-S., The Growth of the Informal Economy in North Korea, Korea Institute of National Unification, Studies Series 15-02, Seoul, 2015, p. 21Google Scholar.

104 Ibid.

105 Park, ‘Informal political system’, p. 140.

106 Yang, North Korea's Planned Economy, pp. 59–60.

107 Ibid., at p. 61.

108 Kim and Yang, The Growth, pp. 19–20.

109 Park, ‘Informal political system’, pp. 143–4.

110 Suh, Economic Hardship, pp. 21–2.

111 Park and Choi, Fiscal Segmentation, pp. 45–6; Yang, M.-S., ‘Measures for improving economic management under Kim Jong-Un's leadership and their assessment: 2012–14’, Vantage Point: Developments in North Korea, 38(6) (2015), pp. 38–49Google Scholar, at p. 33.

112 Kim and Yang, The Growth, p. 23.

113 As described by Noland, ‘Why is North Korea growing?’.

114 NSO, Major Statistics Indicators of North Korea. ‘Textiles’ consists of ‘apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted’ (code 61) and ‘apparel and clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted’ (code 62).

115 Yang, North Korea's Planned Economy, pp. 54–5.

116 Lim, E.-C., ‘The formation and development of private financing in North Korea: patterns, implications and challenges’, Vantage Point: Developments in North Korea, 38(10) (2015), pp. 31–43Google Scholar, at p. 35.

117 Lee, S.-K., ‘The economic policy for the Kim Jong-Un regime in North Korea and the possibility of its change’, Vantage Point: Developments in North Korea, 37(1) (2014), pp. 46–57Google Scholar, at pp. 54–5.

118 By the end of the Kim Chŏng-Il era, the ‘merchant class’ (i.e. those who traded as an occupation) was estimated to number between 500,000 and 1 million individuals (out of a population of 25 million)—a significant pointer to the existence of grassroots capitalism. See Y.-S. Dong, ‘The rise of North Korea's merchant class’, SERI Quarterly, October 2013, pp. 67–72, at pp. 67–8, http://www.seriworld.org/16/qt_Section_list.html?mncd=0301&dep=1 [accessed 10 November 2013].

119 Park, ‘Kim Jong Il’, p. 3.

120 Point, Vantage, ‘North Korea's attempts for agricultural reform’, Vantage Point: Developments in North Korea, 37(4) (2014), pp. 26–9Google Scholar, at p. 27.

121 Kim, ‘North Korea's economy under Kim Jong-Un’, pp. 6–7.

122 Ministry of Unification, Understanding North Korea 2014, p. 220.

123 Yang, ‘The evaluation of 2015’.

124 IFES, ‘North Korea revises business law to legalize private investments’, NK Brief 06-2, 2017, http://ifes.kyungnam.ac.kr/eng/frm/FRM_0101V.aspx?code=FRM170613_0001 [accessed 29 July 2017].

125 Hong, M., ‘The apartment construction market and urban politics in North Korea’, Vantage Point: Developments in North Korea, 37(10) (2014), pp. 33–42Google Scholar, at p. 38.

126 S.-H. Chu and C.-A. Kim, ‘Three times the rate if you want South Korean hair-style … Samsung TV in Pyongyang apartment: North Korea five years after the emergence of Kim Jong-Un’, donga.news, 17 September 2015, http://news.donga.com/View?gid=73674583&date=20150917 [accessed 20 September 2015].

127 Hong, ‘The apartment construction market’, p. 38.

128 Chang, Y.-S. and Jeong, E.-M., Double-Sidedness of North Korea, Institute of Unification Education, Seoul, 2015, pp. 78–9Google Scholar.

129 Ibid., at p. 90.

130 Joung, E.-L., ‘North Korea's economic policy as a duet with control and relaxation: dynamics arising from the development of public markets since the North Korean famines in the 1990s’, Journal of Asian Public Policy, 9(1) (2016), pp. 75–94CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at p. 92.

131 For example, see R. Frank, ‘Witnessing change in North Korea: a view from the ground’, Global Asia, 12(2) (2017), pp. 104–15.

132 IFES, ‘Expanding electronic payment system in North Korea’, NK Brief 06-4, 2017, http://ifes.kyungnam.ac.kr/eng/FRM/FRM_0101V.aspx?code=FRM170627_0001 [accessed 15 July 2017].

133 Lee, ‘Current trends and characteristics’, p. 133.

134 NSO, Major Statistics Indicators of North Korea.

135 Smith, North Korea, pp. 289–90.

136 Park, ‘Informal political system’, p. 151.

137 Saxonberg, Transitions, pp. 288–9.

138 Recent research has found that popular support for the Chinese regime extends beyond instrumental economic commitment. For example, see Dickson, B. J., The Dictator's Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party's Strategy for Survival, Oxford University Press, New York, 2016Google Scholar.

139 This is the view of former Minister of Unification Lee Jong-Seok. See B.-Y. Hwang and H.-K. An, ‘Kim Jong-Un's objective is Chinese-style rapid growth … his father's testament: former Minister of Unification looks at Kim Jong-Un's dream’, Ohmynews, 5 April 2018, http://m.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/Mobile/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002421483&CMPT_CD=MTO17 [accessed 5 April 2018].

140 KINU North Korea Studies Division, ‘Analysis of North Korea's 2016 New Year's address and domestic and foreign policy outlook’, KINU Online Series, CO16-01, 2016, pp. 5–7, https://www.facebook.com/KINU1991eng/?hc_ref=ARSrDnkqBqXaIiD7a-kVCKdZOMLxs2sJaIzGYxzOULh5r761XxLRD9KF0va23jL367s&fref=nf [accessed 6 March 2016].

141 E.-C. Lim, ‘The goal and the current status of building a “civilized country with socialism” at the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the party’ in KDI School, 2016 DPRK Country Report, pp. 145–75.

142 For example, Haggard, S., ‘Kim Jong Un: a new ruling formula?’, North Korea: Witness to Transformation, 2015Google Scholar, https://piie.com/blogs/north-korea-witness-transformation/kim-jong-un-new-ruling-formula [accessed 11 November 2015].

143 On the objectives of the regional stakeholders, see Hemmings, J., Pardo, R. Pacheco, and Kong, T. Y., Negotiating the Peace: Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula, Henry Jackson Society, London, 2018Google Scholar, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327670448_Negotiating_the_Peace_Diplomacy_on_the_Korean_Peninsula [accessed 12 September 2018].