By Choi Sung-jin
North Korea’s economic development policy since Kim Jong-un took over in 2011 is similar to the Chinese model of reform and openness in the 1980s, an expert said Monday.
“North Korea has been adopting its own economic management method and economic development zone policy the past four years, which are similar to China’s economic reforms and market-opening policy in the 1980s,” said Kwon Young-kyung, a professor of Institute for Unification Education, at a workshop.
Kwan cited the North’s “vegetable garden assignment system” as an example. Under the system, the government makes people jointly cultivate an area, but allows the individuals to sell part of the produce to encourage production. China implemented a similar scheme, called the “agricultural production responsibility system,” from 1978-1981.
Kwon noted that unlike his father, Kim Jong-un was taking a step-by-step, experimental approach to advance economic management, like China’s gradual reform process in the 1980s. The late Kim Jong-il conducted a sweeping reform measure, such as abolishing the rationing system, across the board.
“The North has enacted an economic district development law, designating 26 special districts and development zones,” Kwon said. “This seems to imitate China’s special economic zones, which served as beachheads for expanding reforms and openness to the rest of the country.”
This notwithstanding, it is hard to say if all these steps reflected the young North Korean leader’s will to reform and open up his closed country, Prof. Kwon said. North Korea’s propaganda machine had said that these economic development districts were aimed at improving people’s livelihoods, but had said nothing about reform and openness.
Another expert called for the need to induce North Korea to open up more to outside world with guarantees that the allies would not seek unification through absorption.
“Myanmar’s recent rejoining of the international community is thanks in large part to the strong and consistent U.S. message that it would not pursue a regime change in the authoritarian country,” said Professor Kim Tae-hyun of Chung Ang University. “In order for the U.S. and South Korea to induce North Korea’s changes through engaging it, the allies must persuade the North’s leadership that such changes would never lead to the collapse of their regime.”