The following article is a column by Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University and a director at Korea Risk Group, which oversees NK News and NK Pro. 

North Korea has made headlines around the world as a result of its nuclear and missile plans at the Eighth Party Congress. But really, this is typical North Korean saber-rattling —  Kim Jong Un’s U-turn on economic reform is the real news, here.

The Party Congress made public something that has long been suspected since last year: Kim and his close advisors are, for the time being, abandoning pro-market Chinese-style reform.

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