earticle

영어

This paper has a purpose to examine the nature of the North Korean ruling class and to discuss its relevance to maintenance of regime drawing up the Korean peninsula’s future.In soviet communism nepotism and patron-client relations undermined the political criteria of elite recruitment in the nomenklatura system. The political elite began to degenerate into a social class, perhaps one of the most economically useless in history. The Party fostered a class that grew at its expense and began to transform itself into a traditional oligarchy. North Korea has also common things with the Soviet Union, in the aspect of having her privilegeclass. However, in the aspect of social mobility or ascending to high position in the system of ruling class, or moving to ruling class from lower class, North Korea’s experience has suggested more strictness and even impossible prospect. And there is another peculiar aspect to North Koreathat the supply system of privilege to ruling class has been dismantled in North Koreafor economic crisis after 1990s, following the 1980’s worsening for deterioration of economic situation. North Korean ruling elites would not want to change their ruling system and to give up their privilege under new regime if their future is uncertain, due to new challenger’s coming. The North Korean power elite are not very different from their counterparts in the former Soviet Union. But their future choice in the period transition from the sudden or natural collapse of Kim Jong Il Regime will very different with the former Soviet Nomenklatura member’s choice, representing as a symbol of new class of Russian capitalism.