A North Korean boy holds up a plastic bag filled with fish in Sept. 2012 | Image: Eric Lafforgue
The North Korean government has grappled for years with how to address the de facto privatization across many sectors of its economy.
The spread of private ownership in the “socialist paradise” is ideologically unwelcome, generating potential instability for the Kim leadership. But Pyongyang also recognizes that private entrepreneurs generate much-need hard currency and other resources that the state cannot.
The North Korean government has grappled for years with how to address the de facto privatization across many sectors of its economy.
The spread of private ownership in the “socialist paradise” is ideologically unwelcome, generating potential instability for the Kim leadership. But Pyongyang also recognizes that private entrepreneurs generate much-need hard currency and other resources that the state cannot.
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Andrei Lankov is a Director at NK News and writes exclusively for the site as one of the world's leading authorities on North Korea. A graduate of Leningrad State University, he attended Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University from 1984-5 - an experience you can read about here. In addition to his writing, he is also a Professor at Kookmin University.