There is a slowly growing consensus that under the watch of Kim Jong Un the North Korean government has begun to implement a low-key, but quite successful, reform program.

These reforms are remarkably similar to those undertaken by Deng Xiaoping in China in the early 1980s, even though the North Korean policy is significantly more cautious than its Chinese counterpart. 

The slow-motion switch to a market system has produced predictable results: the North Korean economy has resumed growth, living standards have improved considerably, perhaps reaching, if not exceeding, levels not seen since the 1970s, the country’s most prosperous decade in