North Korea is probably the world’s most repressive state. Its leadership is reviled for their atrocious human rights record, vast prison camps, and general contempt for human life. In the 1990s, hundreds of thousands of North Koreans starved to death because their government refused to stop it from happening.

There is no need to recount the countless crimes of this country’s leaders, but there exists a twisted irony to their systems of repression and social control: they may actually be good for business, and may aid in the marketization of the country.

The reasons, though simple, are rather counterintuitive: pervasive