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More articles by 'Peter Ward'
Don’t have a cow, man? Now North Korean farmers can get one at oxen marketplace
Recent DPRK law creates legal market for the draft animal in the most significant agricultural reform in years
How North Korea’s decrepit tax system encourages illicit market activity
Poor collection mechanisms cannot fund state largesse, incentivizing even the military to seek cash from elsewhere
Friendship and family networks are key to getting outside info to North Koreans
Autocratic regimes atomize communities and increase suspicion, but some spaces are safer for sharing illicit info
Why Kim Jong Un’s farming ‘revolution’ will do little to curb food insecurity
At latest plenum, North Korea promised bright communist future but refused to address chronic structural issues
How North Korean state firms bend the rules to rake in cash from market activity
Newly revealed DPRK law details crackdown on use of special privileges to dodge taxes, embezzle funds and more
Blurred lines: Inside North Korea’s messy business ecosystem
Both state power and market forces shape the DPRK economy in ways that are only now coming into focus
Why North Korea is the ultimate sucker bet for would-be investors
Cheap labor and proximity to China are not enough to make DPRK preferable to alternatives like Vietnam and Indonesia
North Korea’s bleak budget for 2023 hints COVID and trade controls will stay
Officials expect just 1% revenue growth this year, betraying few hopes for improvements in pandemic economic situation
How the Chinese economy is becoming more and more like North Korea’s
As Beijing turns less capitalist and market-friendly, it grows more unlikely the DPRK will embrace true economic reforms
How North Korea’s own military-industrial complex drives defense spending
Armed forces and munitions producers compete for resources but also have a shared interest in blocking demilitarization
