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North Korea’s transformation: A legal perspective
The Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES) published an interesting paper (with the above title) on legal reform in the DPRK. Below are some highlights. Links to the entire paper at the bottom. As...
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The urban dimension of the North Korean economy: A speculative analysis
Chapter 11 of North Korea in the World Economy Bertrand Renauld (NKeconWatch: the whole paper is worth reading in full. Below is the introduction. Here is a link to the chapter in Google Books....
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Threat of confiscation is lowering prices?
According ot the Daily NK: The current rice price downturn in North Korea has been caused by the fact that wholesalers and individuals dumped rice and corn in bulk onto the market in order to avoid it...
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Hermit economics hobbles Pyongyang
Aidan Foster-Carter writes in the Financial Times about some poor decision-making coming out of Pyongyang: Great Leader? Pyongyang’s fawning hagiography not only grates, but is singularly unearned....
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DPRK food prices unstable as lean season approaches
Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES) NK Brief No. 10-04-28-1 2010-04-28 The price of rice in North Korean markets, steadily declining until the end of March, saw an upswing in April. Rising prices...
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The secret world of North Korea’s new rich
Andrei Lankov provides some anecdotal evidence and a taxonomy of the DPRK’s growing entrepreneurial class (perhaps one of the most interesting and least reported aspects of the DPRK). He also gives us...
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Integration in the Absence of Institutions: China-North Korea Cross-Border...
Peterson Institute Working Paper WP 11 – 13 Stephan Haggard, Jennifer Lee, and Marcus Noland Read the full paper here (PDF). Theory tells us that weak rule of law and institutions deter cross-border...
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On the de-facto privatization of industry in the DPRK…
Pictured above (Google Earth): A bus depot in Rakrang-guyok, Pyongyang. See in Google Maps here. According to the Daily NK: Growth and improvement is evident in some areas of the private sector in...
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Kim Jong-il and his sister on markets and the market economy
Stephan Haggard and Dan Pinkston have found and posted comments attributed to Kim Jong-il revealing some of his thinking on “markets” and the “market economy”: Kim Jong-il, “On the promotion of a...
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New facts about the DPRK’s informal economy
Pictured above (Google Earth): An unofficial street market in Sinchon (신천) is bustling while the nearby official marketplace is closed. See in Google Maps here. The Choson Ilbo posted a few factoids...
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Data on the DPRK’s informal economy
According to the Choson Ilbo: The belief that money can buy anything is rife in North Korea. Farmers can buy membership of the Workers Party, the gateway to the elite, from a senior party official for...
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The (Market) Forces of History in North Korea
By Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein The market is a common topic for debate in history. How did it impact the rise of the anti-slavery movement in the US and the UK? What impact did economic conditions...
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The limits of agriculture reform in North Korea
By Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein Agricultural reforms in North Korea became a hot topic of discussion almost right away when Kim Jong-un took power in 2011. Only a number of months into his tenure,...
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North Korea and taxation: some possible causes
By Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein As this blog noted yesterday, South Korean daily Joongang Ilbo claims that the North Korean government may formally reintroduce a tax system before May this year, when a...
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North Korean state takes over foreign currency stores
By Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein Donju life might not always be what it is cracked up to be. Radio Free Asia reminds us that regardless of how well North Korea’s upper-middle class traders might be...
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Ri Yong Ho’s visit to Vietnam (or: the futile guessing game of North Korea’s...
By: Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein North Korea’s foreign minister Ri Yong Ho recently visited Vietnam, prompting speculation about economic reforms in North Korea. KCNA (whose website is impossible to...
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Taxes increase on some North Korean markets
By Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein This sort of news is very interesting, particularly in context: I’ve heard from people who deal with North Korean firms that some of them have received orders to tighten...
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The Pyongyang General Hospital and Kim Jong Un’s “Benevolent Dictator” Economics
By: Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein On Monday (July 20th), Kim Jong Un visited the construction site for the Pyongyang General Hospital and unleashed some rather scathing criticism against the management...
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Kim Jong-il and his sister on markets and the market economy
Stephan Haggard and Dan Pinkston have found and posted comments attributed to Kim Jong-il revealing some of his thinking on “markets” and the “market economy”: Kim Jong-il, “On the promotion of a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New facts about the DPRK’s informal economy
Pictured above (Google Earth): An unofficial street market in Sinchon (신천) is bustling while the nearby official marketplace is closed. See in Google Maps here. The Choson Ilbo posted a few factoids...
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