About the author
More articles by 'Peter Ward'
How Kim Jong Un uses party committee memberships to manage Pyongyang’s elite
Political and military elites in North Korea appear to rotate in and out of power much more frequently under Kim
How has COVID-19 impacted North Korean market prices?
Foreign exchange, food and fuel all took different price swings during North Korea’s strict pandemic border controls
North Korea warily eyes the markets that now dominate food distribution
Recently revealed changes to the Food Administration Act suggest efforts to reassert state control over grain sales
Cold hard cash? Currency coupons give North Korea options with money supply
Inability to print cash likely behind coupons, but they also provide a safeguard for post-pandemic currency devaluation
North Korean coal: Sanctions and stranded assets
DPRK coal mines will have trouble making the kinds of profits they did in the 2010s even if the country fully reopens
What a seven-part series tells us about North Korea’s economy under Kim Jong Un
Choson Sinbo says North Korea need not reform or open up thanks to ‘precious strategic resources’ like nuclear weapons
North Korea’s ambitious economic targets belie struggles on the ground
The DPRK’s latest five-year plan again sets unrealistic goals, as state media reports provide a veneer of success
North Korea’s five-year strategy set outlandish targets for economic growth
Officials aimed for 79% growth in some sectors, but the country’s own data shows it fell far short of this goal
North Korean documents suggest economy worse off than previously known
DPRK’s Five-year Economic Strategy suggests country never fully recovered from ‘90s collapse, population has declined
Book review: ‘North Korea and the Geopolitics of Development’
New economic history provides excellent account of post-1990 period but is light on analysis of Eastern Bloc influence
