Posted on 09/11/2015 7:44:47 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
North Korea Appears to Seek Economic Reform Without Openness
A commentary by Andrei Lankov
2015-09-11
Nearly four years have passed since the sudden death of his father made Kim Jong Un the new leader of North Korea. This period of time is long enough to make educated guesses about the direction the young leader wants to take, and the goals he wants to achieve. To put things simply, he seemingly wants to initiate policy which in many regards is similar to the ‘reform and openness’ policy of China under Deng Xiaoping. However, unlike China, Kim Jong Un seemingly wants what can be described as ‘reforms without openness’.
Like it or not, this policy makes sense if judged from the point of view of North Korean decision makers. They need growth, but they need stability even more. Perhaps the common people of North Korea might have a different opinion on the issue, but their opinion has little impact on the future of the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at rfa.org ...
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The problem is any reforms that create economic pluralism would also undermine the rule of the family.
Unlike in China, the Communist Party isn’t really strong enough to rule the country through a form of collective leadership.
Its hard to imagine Kim sharing power with others in the North Korean elite.
Therefore market reforms are out of the question.
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