초록 열기/닫기 버튼
This research attempts to evaluate the economic performance of North Korea for the past 10 years since Kim Jong Un came to power in 2011. The Kim Jong Un regime was able to maintain a steady economic growth for the first six years despite the challenging initial environment that it had faced. The growing overseas demand following the high growth of the Chinese economy and economic policies utilizing the market sector are likely the main forces of this steady growth. However, the North Korean economy is currently facing arguably the worst economic crisis since the 1990s caused by tightening UN economic sanctions since 2017 and subsequent border lockdowns due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fundamental cause of the economic breakdown lies in the Byungjin (Parallel Development) policy, a policy that involves the simultaneous development of nuclear weapons and economy, which has been the main strategy of the regime since 2012. The structural damages in industrial sectors are expected to continue should the policy direction of the regime remains unchanged, which can aggravate the import of intermediate goods and capital goods.
