About the Author
Georgy Toloraya
Dr. Georgy D. Toloraya, is the Director of Korean Programs at the Institute of Economy at the Russian Academy of Science. He previously served as a senior Russian diplomat in both North and South Korea.
Over the last few years after Kim Jong Un came to power, especially in the initial period, the expectations had been high that North Korean authorities, while keeping and even enhancing a rigid political system, may embark on the course of “economic experiments”.
That would have meant finally admitting the increasingly non-command character of the economic order, which had emerged since the 1990s. 70 percent of household income after all, is said to be derived from market activities.